Rhonda's Stampin' Up! New Catalog Girls Evening Out

I’m excited to share all the new ideas we learned at convention, fun swaps cards as well as the Holiday Mini catalog with you all! I hope you are ALL able to join me on Thursday the 28th of July for a come and go anytime from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. for two FREE Make and Take cards and root beer floats.


The projects will be simple but fun and similar in style to these two cards, so it is a perfect time to bring friends who may not have stamped before as well:

I love this new In Color Wisteria Wonder…we’ve needed a light purple! All the new ribbons are lovely too, and I’m excited for you all to use them. This will be July’s Stamp Club meeting as well if you are a part of that, and as always catalogs are free for stamp club members/hostesses or with a $25 order. If you aren’t ready to order, the big catalogs are $5 which is refundable with a $25 order (just remind me when you order).

I hope you are ALL able to drop by for some fun!

Stampin’ Up! has a great $99 starter kit promotion (with two brand new stamp sets-you could also choose new In Colors for your ink pads if you’d rather) through the end of July as well. If you are at all interested, be sure and talk to me about it soon. My downline may attend Technique Classes for only $5 instead of $10, and Stampin’ Up! is giving away a free Holiday Memento box kit! For the first person to sign directly under me, I am offering the awesome Convention 3-ring binder ($25 value) which includes tabs and the complete supply list for all the projects in the catalog. Here’s a link to the list of the Starter Kit contents , and here are pictures of the lovely Binder:

I also didn't swap....

This little spider from the super cute Kidoodles set....I used a Stampin' Addicts Technique challenge which is also found on page 69 of the new catalog, but I was afraid I would not have time to finish several of them in time.

I actually swapped this on Thursday...

This was my card for the Stampin' Addicts Meet and Greet on Wednesday.  I used marker to stamp to ink this nice large background stamp in Concord Crush and Always Artichoke.  The Sweet Floral stamp is really large so I put it to one side of the card and also used a blender pen to create the Wisteria Wonder color in the light spaces on the flower. I did not use Wisteria ink...that is the Concord Crush ink which makes for a fairly quick card.  I used the Tasteful Trim die and the new Artichoke Denim ribbon for the embellishment at the bottom and some pearl bling at the top.

There are two pictures because I first used the new Family Reunion set to create the "to my Mom" sentiment, but I switched to the Happy Birthday sentiment from the new Petite Pairs set because the former required the use of the stampamajig :).

Today, I'll swap this get well card...

The scalloped circle is from a new big shot die, and the lace ribbon border punch is cut in half and attached to each side of the Flirtacious designer series paper.  I really enjoy the cuteness of the Kidoodles set and especially this cute little rhinoceros. I really enjoyed coloring her with the new Wisteria Wonder marker and adding the matching ribbon and polka dot brad. I used the MOJO195 sketch for this card.

Roomie Gift for Trina

My friend Kris/PaperFairy Kris created this adorable Simply Adorned Charm Insert Storage CD Holder for Craft Project Central and taught me to make one.  I LOVE it, and I'm so proud of Kris!

So of course, when I needed something for a Convention Roomie Gift, I jumped at the chance to make one for Trina, my roomie who is willing to put up with me for 4 whole days! I used the new Hostess Designer Series Paper, Cheerful Treat. I like it and think it is, but I hope Trina does too. :)

Front Cover

Open...see the matching "T" charm insert...

Pulled to fully open:

Flipped over to the back side:

Stampin' Up! Convention 2011 Friend Trinkets

These are some tiny Reese's Peanut Butter Cup holders I made with the top half of the small cello bags....I used the bottom half for something you can see posted tomorrow :).  I used the new Pennant Parade Christmas Tree as well as the stocking from the Snow Much Fun set with some new colors and the new Lace Ribbon Border punch which is so dramatic!

What I'm ~not~ swapping....

I love this new chickadee Christmas set, but sadly, I didn't think I'd be able to make 37 of them, so it will have to wait for a technique class I guess.

Pennant Parade Christmas Tree

The Pennant Parade set is adorable, and I really love this new background Letterpress Plate Fancy Fan.  It really dresses up a simple card!  I'm off to convention tomorrow so check back each day to see what I'm swapping. :)

Great New Hostess Benefit Changes!

I hope you'll love the new changes as much as I do!  No more being shut out of a Level 3 Hostess set if your party doesn't make that level! No more getting extra hostess sets after you have them all, just choose catalog merchandise! It's a good thing!

Thumping Technique Precious Butterflies Card

I used the new Wisteria Wonder 2011-2013 In Color with Marina Mist and Pear Pizazz for this card.  The Precious Butterflies set is a new Hostess Choice this year that I obviously couldn't resist.

This was for Technique Challenge #94 a couple of weeks ago on Stampin' Addicts.

For marker thumping just choose a solid image stamp (not line art).

1. Ink your solid image stamp in one color.
2. Use a marker to add another color (or two) to the stamp by thumping the marker sideways onto the inked stamp. Be sure not to pounce the tip of your marker onto the stamp...it will damage your marker irreparably. Perhaps if you have an old worn out marker the angle of your addition of the marker ink wouldn't matter.
3. Huff to rewet/moisten the ink on the stamp.
4. Stamp your image.
5. Finish your card.

You also might want to gently scribble any extraneous colors from your marker onto scratch paper before putting the marker away.

The bluer butterfly in the middle of the circle of butterflies was stamped in Marina Mist with Wisteria Wonder thumped on it. The other butterflies were all stamped in Wisteria Wonder with Marina Mist marker thumped on it.

Snow Much Fun Easel Card

This is for the Fourth Tuesday Fun Fold Challenge on Stampin' Addicts....I think I am going to have a lot of fun with the Snow Much Fun stamp set!

Easel cards are so Easy! :)

1. Cut your cardstock base to 4-1/4 X 11. (in half vertically)
2. Score it at 2-3/4 and 5-1/2 inches.
3. Cut a 4-1/4 X 5-1/2 inch top layer base. This is usually in the same color cardstock as the base.
4. Create a liner of some type for your card that has a horizontal piece for the card to stand against when it is in the easel position.
5. Add all the images and embellishments to finish your card.

The illustration below shows the way to attach the top layer base to the card base just in case....

Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamp Sets Blog Hop 2011

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamp Sets Blog Hop for 2011!

You've likely arrived from Betty's lovely blog  Kitty Stamp where you saw adorable designs with the Blowing Kisses stamp set. Such a CUTE set!  Should you get lost or need a list of the participants, you can see it at Stampin' Addicts.

I'm actually featuring two great stamp "sets" for the hop. (Thanks for allowing me to do that fellow hoppers!) The Simple Birthday Thanks background (page 142) and Birthday Bliss (page 57) were both favorites of mine for kids cards (and thank you cards of course).  The Simple Birthday Thanks Stamp was inadvertently skipped for the Retirement list. Stampin' Up! confirmed that the stamp is NOT on a carryover list and IS retiring by phone.

First up is this gift card holder.....I can't swear I haven't seen it before, but I didn't knowingly copy.  Well, I did copy a birthday cupcake I'd seen intentionally, and I was trying to match some of the colors in the balloon gift card. I love the intense boyish blue of the icing on the Simple Birthday Thanks stamp, and imagine what color your tongue would be after eating such a cupcake in real life! The tag punch shaped "make a wish" candle image makes a quick and easy way to attach the top/icing with a flourish. "Ice Cream and Presents and Cake Oh my!" makes a grand statement for the front of the cupcake liner area. I'll list a step by step tutorial (no pictures-sorry) on Monday, though you probably don't need it-I just used a Pumpkin Pie card base, stamped it, cut it out and cut off the icing.  A thin line of sticky strip on the sides and bottom---Quick and Easy.

This Fancy Favor is cute for giving a gift of 3X3 cards and envelopes.  I have a friend who really enjoys getting handmade cards for her birthday.  Luckily, I really enjoy ~making~ cards!  This set features the new 2011-12 designer series paper "Just Add Cake".  It is an usual color combination, but it is a lot of fun!

I made this cupcake card to match this fun wrapping paper.  I just did some cutting with the paper cutter for the squares and rectangles and punched the circles and half circles.  I also made some curlicues and attached them with mono multi/green lid glue.  I stamped Birthday Bliss from the Birthday Bliss stamp set for a vibrant sentiment.  A little ribbon completes the card.

Now it is time to continue on to Holly's Rubber Redneck blog where she'll show you lovely creations with the Always stamp set. We're going to miss that set!

 

Faux Cloisonné

This is an unusal old technique that only requires a magazine photo of flowers (I like to use a floral bedspread picture), Versamark and gold embossing powder.


1. Pick your floral photo....this will determine the color scheme for your card.
2. Stamp an open line stamp (one with line edges not a color-block type stamp like you'd use for faux shaving cream) in Versamark onto the magazine/catalog photo.
3. Cover with gold embossing powder.
4. Heat emboss.
5. Cut out the image leaving the gold edges.
6. Finish your card.

Glittered Dryer Sheet Technique

Not sure why I never posted this? It was the technique challenge I posted on Stampin Addicts a month ago.
It is especially nice with snowflake stamps in winter so you might want to wait to use it until then.


1. Stamp images in a variety of colors on your cardstock. Allow to dry for at least 10 minutes. (I don't recommend Red because it can smear when the glue stick hits it. Maybe you could heat it?)

2. Cover the cardstock with a thick coating of glue from a Stampin' Up! gluestick. (You can also use a Xyron, but if we can do it SU!, then let's.)

3. Press a well used (though not with dark clothes as they can sometimes fade or get dark lint on the dryer sheet) dryer sheet into the cardstock. (The glue will ooze through so be forewarned.) I used Bounce. You might want to ask anyone who has allergies to bring their own dryer sheet (unscented?) if the scent might be a problem.

4. Cover the cardstock with Dazzling Diamonds, and shake off the excess. (I think it might be a good idea to press the glitter into the cardstock at this point too.)

Fun Fold Technique Challenge on Stampin' Addicts

Lots of excitement with the Demonstrator Preorder, Retiring Stamp Set List and Retiring Accessories List! I am losing a ton of ribbon :(, but the show must go one...:)

Today's Fun Fold is really easy and was inspired by this week's MOJO Monday sketch MOJO193. I actually thought at first that this card style was the sketch, but it wasn't. I decided it should have been so I made it the Fun Fold Challenge on Stampin' Addicts. I used Blushing Bridge and a piece of the Hostess Level 1 dsp set as well as the bouquet from the On the Grow set in the Summer Mini Catalog.

1. Cut your cardstock into a 6 inch square.

2. Turn the card on its point ends and score each side at 2-1/8 inches top to bottom. Be sure to keep the top and bottom point and left and right points straight as you score. Repeat for each side.

3. Carefully fold the corners to the center making a nice center in which the points meet up. (Use the bone folder to get them just so. Have patience.)

4. Cut your dsp into a square that is 3-7/8 inches. It would seem like 4 inch would be it since the finished card is 4-1/4 square, but since there is a middle edge you want it either 3-7/8 or 3-3/4 inches square.

5. Wrap ribbon around the card and attach it to your matching base (ONLY-Nothing is adhered to the card base except the dsp). The base cardstock layer in my example is 2-3/4 square. This base allows you slide the image, sentiment and ribbon off so that the card may be opened for writing inside. My image layer is 2-1/2 square.

6. Attach your image layer and sentiment layer and voila'.