A Bit of Patriotism

This is the ATC swap I made for my upline group. Can you tell when I worked on this one? Why Independence Day weekend, of course! This set is so much fun and has great elements. It could easily be used for children's cards... just change the colors a little. There is this and another wonderful star, a cool swirl, and a heart. They are all nice bold images. You can look for this set, Independence Day, in the new catty, but you won't find it! It is a part of the dormant list and can be found, along with others, on the Stampin' Up! website. These sets are available for purchase, they are just on the list to allow more room for seasonal sets in the physical catty. So there's your little SU! catty lesson for the day. I just love this company! Stamp Sets: Independence Day, Sanded Paper: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Real Red, Night of Navy

Happy New Catty Day!

WaahHooooo! Party! Party! Yes, I am excited again! This is it - the first day to order from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book and Catalog! Are you tired of exclamation points yet?! I think I'll use a few more!!!!! It's so much fun getting a new catty... so much inspiration at your fingertips. And of course, NEW RUBBAH! Woohoo! In honor of this occasion, let me share something I created with the new set, Inspired by Nature. Isn't this set just fabulous? It is so simple and understated. Love! This is one of the stamp sets I received for attending convention. That's right... it was free. Yay! I already have a ton of ideas floating around in my head for this baby. ~:-D Stamp Sets: Inspired by Nature, Warm Words (dormant) Paper: Kraft, Pacific Point Ink: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Versamark Accessories: 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain, linen thread, Whisper White embossing powder

Always an ATC

So if you've seen my blog for any amount of time, you may have noticed that I love Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). They are so very cute and most of the time they are fast and easy to create. This year for Convention I signed up for two slots in an organized swap, swapped with my upline group (the Inky Angels), and made a few extras for general swapping. This year I hardly had any trouble finding people to swap with. Last year was a little more difficult - I still had a few when I got home. This is the first of my organized swaps. I had just gotten the In Colors the day before and knew they had to be used! This is Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand, and Chocolate Chip. This year is such a total return to the 70s... not even joking! But I so love it. Just wait until you see some of the wonderful color combinations made with this year's colors. The DSP is fab! Stamp Set: Always Paper: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand textured Ink: Chocolate Chip craft, Tangerine Tango Accessories: Clear embossing powder, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain

So excited!

Okay... so maybe a little too excited! Hehe! This was the stamp set UPS gave to all the demos at Convention. Isn't it great? It was on the top of my list... it coordinates with the new square scallop punch (WOOHOO!) and is the Ronald McDonald House set for this year. Already RMH has $12,000 coming their way from the sale of these stamps. How cool is that?! So anyway, ask me (or your demo) about Say It With Scallops. Starting August 11th you can order it and send $2 to Ronald McDonald House Charities. Did I mention it's die cut?

Altoids Tin

One of the swap groups I joined was for altoids tins. These tins are great for making cute little kits and gifts that are simple and fun. I decided to make an Emergency Celebration Kit. I started by spray painting my tins. You can chose to do this or not... some tins are in wonderful coordinating colors and you can even find them plain online or in craft stores. I traced the top and bottom twice and trimmed on the inside of my drawn line. Then I proceeded to decorate it! Go crazy! Use your imagination. I used sticky strip to adhere the base piece to the tin and SNAIL for the rest. How cute is that final product? ~:-)

A Convention Swap

Woohoo! I got back from convention very early on Monday morning. My brain is still running about a million miles an hour with all the stamping and business ideas they threw our way. It is just so much fun! I enjoyed this year even more than last year. Last year I think I was just plain overwhelmed... I didn't know what to keep in my brain and what to just wait to processes later. This year was much better, as I know what kind of business have and where I will be taking it in the future. :-) So, shockingly enough, I was a little behind on making general swaps. I made a few for the groups I had signed up for, but never got around to making any others. I just decided to come up with a basic idea and take along the supplies to make a few (I ended up with 20). The technique I went with is called ghosting. You begin by using a brayer to lay color over a piece of velum. Then you take your clean stamp and lift the color from the vellum, cleaning off the ink each time you "stamp". You can use several different stamps to "lift" different amounts of ink each time. This is a very simple technique that is easy to do! Stamp Sets: Heard from the Heart, Canvas, A Beautiful Thing Paper: Riding Hood Red, Sahara Sand, Cardstock Vellum Ink: Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta ribbon

Morning Soft

What a beautiful stamp set. I always love the sketchy stamps that are great for watercoloring. So Morning Soft is no different. I made this for my club members as a little thank you. They are such a great group of ladies! I would say the key for doing really great watercoloring is your paper. For this card I used SU!'s watercolor paper. It can take a whole lot of water and won't warp or pill. I also used my new favorite tool... the color spritzer. I had so much fun. There is a very small learning curve, but just a few minutes with a piece of scrap paper and you will have it down. I have since gone a little spritzer crazy and am using it on everything! Stamp Set: Morning Soft Paper: Watercolor, Sage Shadow, Basic Gray textured Ink: Black StazOn, Sage Shadow marker Accessories: Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain, Hodgepodge Hardware (antique brass), Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Fruity Thanks

I just love this set (Tart and Tangy) and I really hope it makes the new catty. Here is a simple pocket card with this great set. It also uses Much Appreciated, which is retiring. I hope they have a good simple "thank you" set... I use this one all the time. ~:-) Stamp Sets: Tart & Tangy, Much Appreciated, Itty Bitty Backgrounds Paper: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White Ink: Bashful Blue, Old Olive , Real Red, Pumpkin Pie

Hello stranger!

Hi you guys! Sorry I've been gone a while... I totally lost my mojo. I didn't even want to look at my desk. So I didn't. Sometimes you just have to let it come. Now I am excited about stamping again! So this little cutie I made with my mom in mind. Inside the sentiment is "that I love you?" How cute is that? You know what's sad though? Unfrogettable is retiring! Ack! It's so cute. Of course this means that something cuter is replacing it... hmm. Maybe I'm not so sad. :-D Flannel Plaid is also retiring... maybe I should call this "The Retirement Card". Stamp Sets: Unfrogettable, Flannel Plaid Paper: Garden Green, So Saffron, Whisper White Ink: Garden Green, So Saffron, Black StazOn Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Blue Bayou Double Stitched Ribbon, Daisy Field Wheel

Dear Tracey, Where have you been? I've missed the feel of cardstock against my laminate. I want my drawers to be opened and closed again. If you come back, I won't even complain about the headache your daylight lamp gives me. Where have you been? Are you afraid that I am angry? I have nearly forgotten about the Staz-On that's smeared across my face. I understand that you had to go to the bathroom and couldn't keep distructo-girl... uhm... Clara from inking me up. Where have you been? I have missed you so! Please come and clear off all the "stuff" that is on me. Please wipe the dust out of my corners and make me nice and shiny. If you clean me off maybe your mind will calm and you can use me. Please come back Tracey! Lovingly, Your Craft Table *Don't worry table, I'll be back soon. Thanks for missing me.*