These are a couple more butterfly cards that I made for my friend.  Both of them use the Merci set.  If I remember right, it was a free set during Sale-A-Bration several years ago.  I watercolored both of them using reinkers and blender pens.  The greeting on the first card is from the Fundamental Phrases set.  The paper is Pixie Pink and So Saffron, with the Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper.  I keep "saving" that paper, because it is just so cool.  WHY???  It makes such great cards and does me no good sitting in my incredibly large stash, haha!  Looks much better on a card!  I also used a scrap of the bright pink handmade paper.  To tear it easily, just wet it with a blender pen and rip it.

As I was making this set of 12 cards, I was using up some things from past classes.  The part that is watercolored was already finished and even had the ribbon around it and a rhinestone ready to go.  It also had glue on the back.  It must have fallen off a card at some point and I just stuck it in the stamp box.  Anyway, this card obviously came together very fast!

Today I got to go to an Open House hosted by the demonstrator I've been going to.  She and the group she belongs to put it on...maybe about 10 ladies?  Anyway, it was so fun.  They had a big sale of all their old stamps, demonstrations and make & takes.  Sort of made me miss the old days of demonstrating, but not too much.  ;)   I bought a few stamps and some accessories.  Fun new stuff to play with!

Autumn Splendor

I made these cards about a month ago, and then our computer got a bad virus, so I couldn't get them posted. I kind of forgot about them after that!

I saw a card similar to this on another blog and then simplified it for a swap I was participating in. I used Crystal Effects on the leaf to get the shiny look. The Designer Series Paper I used for both cards is called Autumn Meadows. I really like all of the colors and patterns in the pack. The stamp set is called Autumn Splendor.

On this leaf, I embossed it, then colored it with a couple of different colors of Watercolor Crayons and an Aquapainter.

God's Beauty Card

I made this card for a swap. Sometimes when I'm doing a swap, I try to get rid of paper or accessories that I know I won't be able to utilize in a class. This paper is some that I had been avoiding. I like it, but knew it wouldn't work for a class. It is from the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper. All of the Designer Series Paper comes in 12x12 sheets. This particular piece has the flowers on one end and the stems go all the way to the other end. I had opened the end of the paper packet with the stems, so I didn't realize it had the cute flowers on the other end of it. I was going to just "make do" with these odd stripes, but then saw the cute flowers and figured I could make something fun with my new butterfly from the God's Beauty set (see set below). It is a Level 1 Hostess Set in the Spring/Summer Catalog, if anyone is interested in trying to earn it.

For this card I stamped the butterfly in Black StazOn ink on card stock vellum and colored on back with an AquaPainter and Baja Breeze refill ink (since we don't have a coordinating marker). I attached the butterfly with the cute Rhinestone Brad. Super easy!

Sale-A-Bration Class, card 4

Here is the fourth card we made in the Sale-A-Bration Class. You may recognize the design from a card I made a couple of months ago. You can see it here. I love that card made with the Pacific Point color, but I didn't have enough of that ribbon, so I used a color chart to come up with these different colors. On almost all of the cards this time, I tried to use colors that we don't normally put together. I liked the results!

Don't forget that you only have until March 31st to take advantage of the FREE items available during Sale-A-Bration! Order Online or by calling or emailing me. (If you order online, just don't forget to add your free items!)

Sale-A-Bration Class, card 1

This is the first card we made at last week's class. The idea came from my sister. She had used green in place of the yellow, but I needed to make a change due to lack of supplies. Everyone made two of each card. They made one like this and then one with a vanilla "flower piece" and a vanilla piece of Styled Hodgepodge Hardware. What I love about this card is that the flower piece is layered on the inside of the card, so you still see it when it is opened up. I also love the "punch" of Pacific Point blue. That is a great color!

The Botanical Blooms sets is available for FREE through March 31st, with a $50 order. If you are ordering online, don't forget to add your free choice! If it is forgotten, I am not able to add it later.

Botanical Blooms

Botanical Blooms is another one of the FREE stamp sets available through the end of March with a $50 order. This card uses that set. As usual, the color is very odd compared to the original! Those of you who will be receiving this card in the swap can testify! ;) I've used Cameo Coral and Rose Red ink. The brad is from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit. I keep forgetting about that kit, but it has so many fun pieces in it!

I made this card out of a 6x6 piece of card stock. I like the size because you can get four out of a 12x12 sheet. Our Small Open-End Envelopes are just a little bit big for this size of card, but they are what I like to use for them.

Sorry I've been so absent from blog world. Things have just been busy, busy, busy!

Polka Dot Punches

Finally - the last card from our class! I ended up taking a picture, because the Texturz Plate detail wasn't showing up on the card when I scanned it. I added the actual plate in the picture so you could see what they look like. During class, we used a Build-A-Brad on the center of the flower, but I ran out for this card, so I altered this one a little bit. Still cute though!

Warning: you are going to want to use the Texturz Plates on EVERYTHING! I had to give the lesson in church yesterday and I passed out some scripture references so everyone wouldn't have to hear me read the whole time. I wanted to run them through my Big Shot! I settled for stamping them though. :)

(I know I'm a dork!)

Petal Pizzazz & Raspberry Tart

This is the fourth item we made at last week's class with the Petal Pizzazz stamp set. LOVE the Raspberry Tart Designer Paper! It is a little more wild that I usually go with, but depending on how you use it, it comes out pretty nice! :) These Filigree Brads are so cute! We used pink brads for the center instead of the matching silver ones that come with them. Love the look! Lots of pieces to this card, but pretty easy when you break it down.

Polka Dot Punches - Teal

Taken with Teal....a color I never use! This is just another quick card I threw together with the Polka Dot Punches set. All four stamps in the set coordinate with a punch from the catalog. Just three more days until you can get this set and others for FREE! February 1st begins our annual Sale-A-Bration. The So Saffron ribbon is also part of the Free Ribbon Bundle available during SAB, along with the Delicate Dots Designer Paper that I've used in the background. Aren't those Filigree Brads cute? We'll be using one on a card at tomorrow night's class!

Polka Dot Punches

Starting February 1st, we'll begin our annual Sale-A-Bration. It will run through March 31st. Polka Dot Punches is one of the sets you can get FREE! It coordinates with a couple of our punches, plus one that will be coming out in the new catalog *today*......2:00 ET. The colors I've used are Pacific Point, Apricot Appeal and Bashful Blue.

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Sale-A-Bration (SAB) will work the same as in years past:

CUSTOMERS: for every $50 ordered you get a freebie!

HOSTESSES: for every $300 on your workshop subtotal, you get a freebie!

NEW DEMONSTRATORS: sign up during SAB and get any set in the big catalog (up to $47.95 value) free!

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This year, Stampin' Up! is offering more than just stamp sets for FREE. They'll have four stamp sets, a pack of patterned paper and a ribbon bundle to choose from.

If you are interested in setting a date for a Sale-A-Bration workshop in your home, let me know!

Under the Stars, part 2

Another quick Under the Stars card. This is the only new set I own so far! I hope my order arrives this week, so I'll have some other fun things to play with. I've been so busy that I didn't order right away, as I normally do. Stay tuned!

Fresh Cuts

A little taste of fall for you! I love fall and colors that relate to it, but especially the weather. I can't wait for it to get here. We've been spoiled by some nice weather the last week or two and then the reality of summer hit us again the last few days. I'm definitely not a summer person.

This was the other card the open house attendees made last weekend. They colored the flowers with an Aqua Painter and ink from the pads. I tried so hard not to have a bow on it, but HAD to add one at the last minute. It was driving me absolutely crazy to have a flat card. Is anyone else like this???

Happiness Always, part 4

Okay, okay, I'm going to try to stop with the Happiness Always, after this card, but isn't it kinda cute? This was one of the free make & takes at my Open House on Saturday. I wish the colors scanned a little nicer, but you get the idea. There is some Pink Pirouette in there somewhere. Use your imagination!

I checked out my sitemeter today, and thought I had some kind of blog stalkin' going on! Then I clicked on that person's blog and realized I had actually visited it many times myself, have it listed in my "favorites", etc. I still couldn't quite figure out why her address was coming up so many times on my sitemeter. Then I read down a ways, and she had my blog listed, along with a few others, in a post called "Newly Discovered". So I want to send a thank you out to Allison at Stampin' When I Can for mentioning Oink, Ink. to her stampin' friends. I told my husband I feel guilty that I've been so boring on here lately! If any of you are band moms I know you can understand what we are going through getting these kids ready. Pictures are tomorrow. I hemmed the last uniform and patched the last hole tonight, so they should look marvelous and I can get back to stampin, I hope! ;)

Happiness Always, part 3

I think I really love this set! This is one of the cards I demonstrated at the Open House tonight. I was showing the new Scallop Punch, new Bella Rose Designer Paper, new In Colors (Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red shown here) and the new Level 3 Hostess Set: Happiness Always. I stamped the detail step of the butterfly on watercolor paper and then pulled that ink around with an Aquapainter. I saw this technique on another blog. I wish I knew where to give credit, but I thought I saved it and I didn't. She called it faux watercoloring. I love the quick and easy technique.

It's that time to set your date for a workshop with the new catalog! Let me know if you are interested.

Happiness Always

Over the weekend I had a swap with my Stampin' Up! downline for the sets we could purchase early from the upcoming catalog. This was my card. There were some great cards this time around. As they arrived over the last couple of weeks, it seemed everyone was using the new pink, green or red, so I wanted to use something different. I went for the Baja Breeze and planned to mix the new Kiwi Kiss with it, but as I played around, I really liked the Tangerine Tango the best with it! I stamped the flower and stem with Versamark on the Bella Rose Designer Paper and then embossed them with white embossing powder. I colored a "center" for the flower with the Stampin' Pastels, using a little bit of Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie.

You'll get to see all of these new items at the Open House on August 16th (see right sidebar). I'm starting to get some RSVP's. Get yours in by August 10th to qualify for that extra ticket for the Door Prizes!

Unfrogettable

A new stamper (her last name is actually "Stamper" - - how cool is that?!?) came over on Friday and wanted me to show her how to do a few things. This is one of the cards we made. I was showing her how to mask and watercolor. Do you know about masking? This card is actually made with two stamps, a frog and a mushroom. First we stamped the frog. Next we stamped him again on the sticky part of a post-it note and cut him out and laid that piece exactly on top of this frog. Next we stamped the mushroom, so that it was partially on top of the post-it. Now when you remove the mask (always save the masks in the stamp case so you don't have to re-cut them!), it looks like the mushroom is behind the frog. It is an easy technique, but impressive.

Color Inspiration Challenge #15

I love these challenges to at least get me started. This is another of the KWernerDesign Challenges and it came together real quick, like in about 5 minutes! The inspiration picture is shown above. I inked up the tree in Really Rust and then used markers directly on the rubber before stamping to add some other colors to it. I really wanted to add some olive to the grass but was trying to stick right to the colors! ;) Do you think this set (Lovely as a Tree) will ever retire?

Boho Backgrounds / Bravo Burgundy

This is the last of my Boho Backgrounds cards.....at least for a little while. If you look at all three, they've all used pretty much the same layout, but they look completely different, just because of the colors, ribbon and hardware. I used the baby wipe technique again on the medallion stamp. This time I used the colors of Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy and Elegant Eggplant. The ribbon is from the Theater Ribbon Originals. I left this card greeting-less so I can add something later, or just keep it as a note card.

Boho Backgrounds / Pixie Pink

My card's colors today look a little more electric on the scan than they do in person! I've used Pixie Pink, Basic Gray and Basic Black. This is another card with the Boho Backgrounds set and I've also used the same time of layout as I did on the last card, just turned it the opposite way. On the main image, I stamped it in the pink and rolled the edges in black before stamping it. To get the dots to line up perfectly on the background, I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig. The cute brad is from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, which was available in the last mini catalog, but not now. Hopefully we'll be able to purchase it again beginning August 11th! The ribbon is from the District Ribbon Originals card.

Wonderful You Smear

When Wonderful You went on special, I had been wanting it for a while. I ordered it right away. My friend Cindy was wanting some ideas for a class she was working on, so this is one of the ones I threw together quickly. I'm trying to remember how I inked up the flower. ?????? I think I did the bold stamp with markers and the line stamp with StazOn. After stamping it, I gave the card stock a couple of squirts with a water spray bottle, then let the card stock dry. That is where the smeared look comes from. Some guests at a workshop thought they had spilled something on it. Nope ~ that look was actually on purpose! The artichoke card stock has the big Paisley stamp on it with VersaMark ink. That stamp makes the best backgrounds! The ribbon comes from the Theater Ribbon Originals.