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!

Grand Finale, pt 7

This is the seventh card we made in my last class. We ended up making the pink one in class. I had planned the red one and then realized we were using the red ink pad on another card and had to switch. That always happens at the last minute! I think I have everything planned so precisely...oh well!

We used heavy duty tin foil and ran it through the Big Shot to get this look. We used one of the Texturz Plates. It is a neat and impressive look. Once in a while you get a hole through the tin foil (which is why the "heavy duty" is necessary), but you just use a little creative layering at that point. When you layer the foil to the black card stock, it is important to put your adhesive onto the black card stock, rather than the foil, because you will push out all of the impressions. Just place your adhesive about 1/8" in from the edge of the card stock and you'll be fine.

We watercolored the flowers. They come from the Echoes of Kindness set, which was a hostess set from the last catalog. The Rhinestone Brad added just the right touch to top it off.

Echoes of Kindness

I made this card with the Echoes of Kindness set. It is a Level 2 Hostess set. I stamped on the watercolor paper and colored with an Aqua Painter. The Designer Series Paper (remember the great sale this month!) I used is Walk in the Park from the Occasions Mini Catalog. This particular pattern is a little wild, but I think I calmed it down a little with the layering......I hope!

Oval All

I've been saving this card to show for quite a while! We'll be making it at the next class on June 19th (however everyone may not make the exact same color). I made this for a recent swap. It uses the new Oval All stamp set and new Oval Punch, along with the Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper. All of these items are from the new Occasions Mini Catalog.

I also used the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die with the Big Shot.

Love You Much

This is one of the cards we made at Friday's class. It uses the Love You Much set that was on sale last month. I saw this cute way to use the scallop punch and ribbon on our demonstrator site and knew everyone would love it. (They did!)

We embossed the Love stamp by stamping first in the Versamark ink and then directly in the Riding Hood Red ink, stamped it on the paper, and then quickly poured clear embossing powder and heated it. Using the Versamark in this way makes every color of Classic ink pad into an embossing pad. Very cool! Many hadn't seen this technique before, although I feel like I've shown it a zillion times. :)

It was a great class, and I'll be showing the other things we made in the next few days.

Merry Christmas from Us to You!

Merry Christmas! From it's beginnings as this, our card turned into what you see here. Too much coloring, but I love how it turned out!

It is soooo cold here. Right now it is 14 degrees (I'm typing this on Monday, though it won't post until Wednesday). Yesterday it was 1. Tomorrow it is supposed to be around 30, so it will be thirty times as warm as it was yesterday. WOW! The wind chill is what is bad. I have no idea how cold that is making it, but I am sitting here shivering.

I hope you all have a nice and peaceful evening and wonderful day tomorrow. We are having the missionaries from our church over for Christmas Eve, so that will be fun. The boys always love having them over! When my brothers served their missions, I was always grateful to the families that took them in for dinners, especially around the different holidays. We want to do something special. Any fun ideas?

Holiday Raccoon

I haven't stamped for 2 1/2 weeks! For this card I combined the Under the Stars set with the Mr. Twigster set. I wanted to do something unusual, rather than just the normal Christmas card. I think the raccoon looks cute holding the lightbulbs! I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to place them perfectly, and then watercolored everything by using an Aquapainter and squeezing the ink pads and getting ink from the lid. The Kiwi "tree" paper is from the Frosty Designer Paper. YEAH - I stamped!

Christmas Card Preview

Here is a very tiny preview of what part of my Christmas cards will look like......if I get them finished. Watercoloring 80+ cards probably isn't the greatest idea ever! However, IF you decide to watercolor, I highly recommend our watercolor paper and an Aqua Painter. Two products that are simply awesome to work with! I'll share the full card when/if I get them all mailed out. That won't be anytime soon! ;)

If you need supplies for your cards, now would be a good time to order and start working on them. Don't forget the envelopes!

3x3 Birthday

This is a real quick little 3x3 card that I made for my church group swap. The Designer Paper is actually from the Ski Slope package in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Yes - it's Christmas paper, but as you can see, it can easily double as other things. Most of the patterns in that package can do the same type of thing. The stamps I used are from the Voila stamp set. I don't have a tons of sets right now. I really need to re-stock, but Richard isn't going for the idea, so I had to get creative. If you don't know what the Voila set is, it is the "chef" set! It's all coming together for you if you're a stamper now, right?!?

I actually started on my Christmas cards yesterday during General Conference! That is a first for me (doing them this early, I mean). Last year I didn't even do any. That is also a first, since I became a stamper 14 years ago. I felt awful about it, and have gotten several lectures from people who usually receive them, but my body just couldn't do them. I figured if I start now, I'll be able to handle it!

Under the Stars

The Under the Stars set is one that I loved right from the beginning. My friend Teri pointed it out to me, saying that she thought Brandon would like it. She was right, but I really liked it too!

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 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.

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.

Baby Card

I decided to get this set for one of the free ones I earned during a promotion Stampin' Up! had recently for demonstrators. It isn't currently available, since it was in the last mini catalog, but I liked it because it had a couple of sayings that were specific for those that have twins. Having had twins, I know those kinds of things are hard to come by. This set may show up in the Fall/Winter catalog if you didn't have a chance to get it, so keep an eye out.

I colored the onesie with the Watercolor Crayons. If you've been a customer of mine for long, you know that I've been very resistant to coloring anything in! I've always preferred the bold stamping or two-step stamping or really anything that is quick and doesn't require coloring. That is until Watercolor Color Wonder Crayons came along! They make things look so nice and are quick and easy to use. I prefer using an Aqua Painter with them. The Aqua Painter does take a little getting used to, but you'll love it once you do!

To attach the buttons, I used the Mini Glue Dots. Some are flat and with some, I used my fingernail to roll them up. The stamp set on the green and yellow backgrounds is Polka Dots & Petals. That one will really be missed by me! I use it constantly.

Happy Birthday Elephant

This elephant is so cute! He comes from the stamp set called Happy Heart Day. I used it at a Valentine's Day Class, where we made Valentine themed things, plus generic items, since it also has stamps that can be used for everyday occasions. The "happy birthday" comes from the Amazing to Zany stamp set. In the background I used the stamp called Dotted. I call those big ones Big Mama stamps! They are as big as a card.

I have a friend with a birthday coming up, so I made this card for her tonight. The layout idea came from a card my sister made a couple of years ago. I've been hanging onto it because I figured if I gave it away I would forget about the cute layout. So now I've copied it, but I'm giving this one away, so I'll still need to hang on to hers! You'd think I could just make a second one, but I don't have time right now. Some day my life will slow down.

Time Well Spent

I haven't had any time to stamp lately, but that is okay. My mom has been visiting and has to leave tomorrow. :( We've done massive amounts of yard work. My yard will probably never look like this again. We are walking weird and hurt like crazy! We've had the usual schedule of keeping up with running the kids around. Saturday was one of those days. Two soccer games in different cities and then back home to go and watch the kids walk the red carpet for the prom. This is just the second year we've gone to watch, but what fun! The "arrival" is the big thing in our town. Everyone tries to out-do the other. The highlight this year was a true Flintstone mobile. It was great. It is so much fun to see all the kids dressed up. I always wish the girls were a little more "dressed", but that is just the modest freak in me coming out. No one else in the crowd ever seems shocked at the lack of fabric, which I always find surprising. Anyway, it made for a fun day.

On to stamping. This definitely isn't my favorite card ever. I was using up some of the extra Designer Paper from the Summer Days kit. I stamped the butterflies from Time Well Spent in StazOn Black and watercolored them with coordinating ink pads and an aquapainter. From the scan, it doesn't look so coordinating, but in person, it does match! A simple card, but nothing spectacular. I did use one of my favorite tools....the Tearing Edge. I have a brand new one sitting here if anyone has been wanting one. Someone ordered one accidentally and I haven't sent it back yet.

Year After Year - On Board

Here is another card made with the On Board Accents. After I played with the On Board products so much ....was it last spring??....I haven't for a while. I really like them! I actually made this card about a month ago, before I even knew about May's promotion. I even used the Cutting Mat and Hobby Blade. I felt like I was having a psycho or psychic moment or something! I stamped the graduation cap and congrats with Black Craft ink and embossed with clear. It looks super shiny, but I'm not sure how it will come through on the computer.

Supplies: Stamps - Year After Year, Phrases for a Friend, Canvas; CS - Textured Blue Bayou, Very Vanilla, Soft Sky; Porcelain Prints DP; Ink - Craft Black, Blue Bayou; Accessories - On Board Accents, Cutting Mat, Hobby Blade, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Cropodile, District Ribbon, SNAIL, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Bone Folder