Stamp Chatter!

Holiday Gift Giving

Good morning!

A quick note this morning to make sure you all know of Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Gift Giving Brochure and Promotion.  If you purchase $65 or more from this Holiday Guide you'll receive a Decor Element of your choice (up to $22.95 in value).

If you've not yet purchased Decor Elements this would be a great way to get one for free and see if you like them.  There are SO many things you can do with vinyl rub-ons aside from putting them on windows and walls.  Make your own frames, decorate bowls, even bleach out stencil images in bleach on clothing.  Decorate tree balls with the snowflake set or attached them to your windows to decorate for the holidays!

I've recently ordered a whole bunch of Decor Elements and hope to post what I'm doing with them in the next couple of weeks.

Try one for free and see how much fun they can be!

Liane

Oh Christmas Tree!!

Hi everyone,

I've been working hard over the  last couple of weeks to get my Christmas Cards completed on time.  I was a bit ambitious this year thinking I could pull off 40 of these Pop-up tree cards.  When I realized how long each card took to make I scaled back to 12. LOL...  I'll make other, more simpler cards for the rest.  Here is the outside of the card using Serene Snowflakes, the Peace, Love Joy stamp from the All Holidays stamp set, our new Polka Dot Real Red Ribbon and the Christmas Cocoa Specialty designer paper from the current Holiday Mini.

 

And here is the inside!

 

You'll have to click on the image to see the embossed detail of the tree.  The tree skirt is the flocked designer paper from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty in the Holiday Mini.  The tree was run through the big shot using the SU! exclusive "Perfect Details" Texturz Plate. 

I've really been enjoying making these pop up cards and get quite a reaction from customers when I show them.  I've done SO many of these now I think I can make the tree in my sleep. 

Happy Stampin!

Liane

Craft Weekend Fun!

Hi everyone!

Well weekend one of our Ladies Craft Weekend is over with Weekend #2 just days away.  It was packed full of fun and by the sounds of it many scrap pages, cards and sewing projects were completed.  I was so busy that I totally forget to take any pictures!!  Usually I have my camera with me but I kept leaving it in my room for some reason and never got around to bringing it down to the basement where we were all crafting.

Every year we like to make goodies to put out at dinner time for the ladies.  This year we had one of the crafters donate these adorable Pumpkin Bags for the Halloween Weekend Retreat.  She added a Lindt chocolate bar and a box of tea in everyone's bag!   How thoughtful was that! 

We also made the ladies (all 80 of them) some bookmarks with a 2010 Calendar on them.  I was quite frustrated looking for a template for the calendar that suited my needs that I ended up making one using Excel.  It's six months on each side of the bookmark and took some time to get them to line up properly so I could use only one sheet of cardstock printed on both sides.  I won't be making one of those again any time soon.  :-)   At least I have it now and should be able to change it quite easily now. 

I used all the new In-Line Color ribbon and inks for this project and a new stamp set for this year "Greenhouse Garden".  

 

With this project we found some large Binder Clips at the Dollar Store and wrapped them in Designer Paper, stamped and punched out a co-ordinating flower and made these cute Photo Holders.

 

This is a picture of my family in Disneyland a few years ago.  My kids look so little and it was only a couple of years ago.  My how fast they grow up!

That's it for now.

I'll post some new cards we've been making in a few days time!

Happy Stamping!

Liane

More swaps!

Good morning!

If you're still having trouble deciding what to do for your Christmas Cards then maybe these will inspire you!  I received these cards in a Christmas/Holiday swap recently and it's given me some great inspiration!

This card was made by fellow SU Demonstrator, Kathyrn Jung!  She used the Scallop Envelope for the Big Shot to make the tree and the Modern Label Punch for the tree trunk.

She also used Serene Snowflakes and Four the Holidays from the Holiday Mini.

I love this card!!  Made by Sandi Lindsay using Patterned Pines (Level 1 Hostess Set) from the Holiday Mini and the new Textured Impressions Folder "Petals A Plenty" also from the Holiday Mini.

Here's a card I made with one of my stamp clubs in October.

 

The pictures a bit dark, but I made this card using Sahara Sand and Bella Bleau DSP.  The Scallop Oval was punched out using my Big Shot and the Movers and Shapers pieces.  I love being able to move the shapes wherever I want them on my card and not worry if a punch will fit it or not.

Here a view of the inside.

Happy Stamping!

Liane

Halloween!

Hi everyone!

I have to admit... Halloween isn't my favorite holiday of all holidays but I know some people who absolutely LOVE Halloween.  Admittedly it's fun making projects for the kids treats and this year was no exception.

I had seen these very cute spiders last year on-line somewhere and decided to make them this year for Halloween!  Made with the circle Scallop punch, circle punches and the Photo Corners punch this treat was easy, quick and fun to make.  Sandwiched in between two Scallop Circles are mint patties!  (My favorite - btw)

 

Small googly eyes would be a great feature to these mint patty spiders!

 

This card I made using the Sweet Center Stamp Set and Sweet Centers Treat Cups from the Holiday Mini.  Super quick and easy!  And I'm all about making cards on the fly!  Stamp, punch, fill and stick!  So easy!

Liane

Christmas Swaps!

Hi Everyone,

With Christmas really only two months away (yikes!) I've really got to get going on making on Christmas cards.  I've got a few ideas up my sleeve but was thrilled when I received my "Christmas" themed swap I entered in our last upline meeting.  What I really want to do for my cards are the pop up Christmas tree, and I'll post pics of those in the coming weeks.  But honestly, do I really want to make 40 pop up trees?  I think I might change my mind after about 10... LOL!  So I got some great ideas that I can easily duplicate in these great swaps!

Enjoy!

At every upline meeting we get to make cards and this was one of the cards we made.  Isn't it pretty!

This card uses the "Delightful Decorations" set from the current Holiday Mini along with with the "Petals A Plenty" textured impressions folder also the from Holiday Mini.

This was the other make and take we did at our meeting using the "Serene Snowflakes" and "Four the Holidays" sets also from the Holiday Mini.  I think there's a theme going here, don't you?  :-) 

We used Night of Navy, Bordering Blue and Soft Suede ink pads.  Pretty!

 

I LOVE this card (above)!!! Made by my upline Alison Solven.  I love the untraditional colors.

 

This card was made by Rhonda.  Up until yesterday I hadn't even noticed this stamp in the Holiday Mini!  This was from the set "Wandering Words" and the trees are from "Lovely as A Tree".  A longtime favorite stamp set!

I'll post more cards soon!

Later

Liane

2010 Desk Calendar

Good morning!

Last year I made some very adorable 4x4 Chipboard Coaster calendars to teach at our annual Ladies Craft Retreat.  The calendar was a lot of fun and quite popular that I've been asked to do another one this year!

I loved the one we made last year but it had one problem... it didn't always stand up on its own and tended to do the splits now and then.  So this year I incorporated a "tent" in the design to keep the calendar on solid ground. 

Here's what I came up with.  I used the "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder for the front design of the calendar along with the medium and large oval punches.  The cardstock color here is Bermuda Bay.

Here's an angle shot to show you the "tent" I devised.  I simply used the 12x12 pieces of cardboard that come in the Designer Paper packs, added a few fold lines and there you have it! 

 

I'll be teaching this as a class not only at our Retreat but here at home too!  Here are the particulars if you'd like to join us!  Space is limited to 6 at a time so register early!  E-mail me for further details!

Class Cost:  $20

Dates:  November 14 (Saturday)

Times: 10:00 - noon

Here are a few pictures of the inside of the calendar!

  

Got to go stamp some more!  Blog ya later!

Liane

 

Card Swapping!

Hi again!

I just love swapping cards!  What a great way to get a variety of cards and some fantastic ideas in exchange for just one hand stamped card idea.  If you have friends that stamp, I'd encourage you to have your own swap.  Round up a handful of friends with each of you making several cards of the same design and then swap out.  It's fun, it gets you stamping and you'll get some great ideas you may not have thought of.

Here are just a few such swaps I received over the last couple of months from some talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrator friends of mine!

This card was made by Chrystal Netzlaw and uses the stamp sets Flower Lines and All Holidays with the Lovely Flowers DSP.

This card was made by Debbie Tompkins using the "Kind Thoughts Brocade" decor stencil from Stampin's Up!'s Definately Decorative catalog!

She used Bermuda Bay ink inside the stencil for the card front.  Gorgeous!

Here's a swap card from my one of my downline member, Angela Chan.  There's a lot of detail in this card and must of taken her a lot of time to make this times 10!  The stamped images are from the set "Simple Friendship".

Another card from my downline Lesley Holland.  Lesley used the oh so favorite "Upsy Daisy" stamp set and the even bigger favorite "Top Note" die cut for Big Shot.  The tips of the flowers are glittered!

I tell ya, with talent like this around me it sure makes my job a whole lot easier!  :-)

Enjoy and happy stamping!

Liane

Wedding Bliss!

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned the other day, we have a family wedding coming up in the next few weeks so my August was busy making wedding cards with my "niece to be" and her bridesmaids.  It didn't seem like making 80 cards was going to be that big a task, however, coming up with a wedding invite that the bride and groom loved and prepping the material so that we could have an assembly party was a little more stressful than I thought it would be.  Especially with our vacation to Parksville being right in the middle of the mad dash to make all these cards with only a few weeks notice to make them. :-) 

But we did it! With five of us punching, cutting, stamping and gluing we assembled almost 80 cards within 4 hours!  Not bad huh!?

Here's what it looked like before we added the wedding words and reception invite.

I had everything pre-assembled before the "work day" arrived and ran 80 cards through my Big Shot using new Stampin' Up! exclusive "Perfect Details" Texturz Plate to create the embossed look you see on the front of the wedding invitation.  Let me tell you, 80 cards, one at a time and having to maticulously line up the plate so it didn't cross over to the back of the card was just a little tedious!  However, I think they turned out great and in the end was worth the time and effort it took!

We then used the Eyelet Border punch for the top fold of the invitation and bordered it with black cardstock punched the same.

We repeated the eyelet border for the pocket inside the invitation.  Here's where we put the reception card with all the pertinent information needed. 

We used Shimmery White cardstock for the inside which totally up'd the elegance of this card.  It's hard to see in this picture but in my sample card I stamped the Wedding Sweet background stamp in Whisper White for an almost ghosting like shadow.

Here's a close up!

In the end, I had so much fun coming up with the design for this card that I've made other samples which I hope to show in the future.  Weddings are a lot of work for sure but all worth it in the end!

Blog ya later!

Liane

Hello Autumn ... Goodbye Summer!

Well, it's time for me to face the music.  Fall is here and it's time for me to embrace a new season and say goodbye to summer!  It was so much fun this year, and the weather was spectacular right up to a few days ago! Big sigh....!!!!! 

Here are just a few pics of our summer fun I thought I'd share with you! 

My husband has an odd sense of humor!  He created this sea weed monster that looks like it could be "Monster's" brother from Sesame Street!  LOL! 

I have no idea what kind of jelly fish this is but it's strikingly beautiful!  This beauty was found by my daughter as the tide was going out on Rathtrevor Beach in Parksville, BC.  If you've never been there you've got to go!  Rathtrevor Provincial Park was where we stayed and it was clean and quiet with lots of things to do in the Parksville area. We'd heard a lot of great things about it and it certainly was everything we had heard and more!

Here's my family in the "Cathedral Grove" forest in Parksville standing in front of an 800+ year old tree!

We went to many places this summer, from Portland Oregan to Mount St. Helens, Whidbey Island, Parksville, Semiahmoo and many other day trips from home and had a blast!  We forgot our camera at home on our Mount St. Helens trip and it was probably the most spectacular but also probably the most difficult to capture the magnitude of the mountain in a photo. 

With summer behind us, a family wedding, a craft retreat, clubs and classes coming up in a few weeks it's been busy!  I'll post some swap cards and a sample of the wedding cards we slaved over in the next couple of days.  In the meantime....

Have a great day wherever you're at!

Liane