Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Wishing Big

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I really love this card that we made at the Proverbial Stampers Occasions get together.  We're making so many cards, having so many demonstrations, and eating a LOT of good food, that we only have time to make the card fronts.  I usually don't assemble the cards until I get home, because I want full-sized cards so I can use them!  I also stepped this card up just a little bit from the example.

The card uses the sweet "Birthday Bright" set that coordinates with the Birthday Bright Project Kit.  We stamped the balloon, the polka dots inside the balloon, and the "big" sentiment in Watermelon Wonder onto a Whisper White oval that was cut with the Layering Ovals Framelits Dies. "Wish" is stamped in Pool Party Ink.  When I got home, I cut a Pool Party scalloped oval to layer behind.  I think that makes for a more polished design.

The card base is Watermelon Wonder Card Stock, with a Pool Party mat.  We added a strip of Tasty Treats Specialty Designer Series Paper to the bottom of the Whisper White Layer, and wrapped a length of 5/8" Mini Striped Watermelon Wonder Ribbon and a length of Whisper White Thick Baker's Twine around the center before adhering this to the card base. 

I adhered the oval to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals and finished the card with some Basic Rhinestones Embellishments.  So cute!



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Monday, January 30, 2017

Calypso Flower

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   One of the many benefits to being a Stampin' Up demonstrator is the fact that you're part of a group of local (ish) stampers.  I live in Maryland and my "upline" is in Pennsylvania.  I'm part of the Proverbial Stampers group.  Our fearless leader is Connie Heisey and she and the rest of her team leaders host a get together whenever there is a new catalog.  It's great fun--we make a stack of cards with the new products and we learn business tips and we eat great food!

Right now, during Sale-a-Bration, until the end of March, is a great time to join Stampin' Up.  If your wish list contains $100 worth of product (and whose doesn't?!), you should just go ahead and join.  Here's why.  For that $100, you'll be able to choose $125 in! product--an extra $26.  Plus, during SAB you can choose TWO stamp sets (excluding SAB items or bundles) from the catalog--at any price point!  That sounds like a real bargain to me!  If it does to you, too, contact me and I can help you get started!!

Today's card is made withe the "Special Reason" stamp set and coordinating Stylish Stems Framelits Dies.  These two items come in a bundle, which, if you purchase together save you 10% over purchasing them separately.  We started with a 2-3/4" by 3-3/4" piece of Whisper White Card Stock and ran it through the Big Shot with one of the Stylish Stems Framelits--leaving the outline of a flower.  We adhered a piece of Cupcakes and Carousels Designer Series Paper to the back so that the colors from the DSP peek through.  We tied on a length of Calypso Coral Thick Bakers Twine.

Next, we embossed a 5-1/8" by 3-7/8" piece of Calypso Coral Card Stock with the Petal Burst Embossing Folder.  We used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere this to a Calypso Coral card base, cut lengthwise.  We adhered the flower element to the card with Stampin' Dimensional, too.

Finally, we stamped a sentiment from the "Special Reason" stamp set in Calypso Coral onto a piece of Peekaboo Peach Card Stock and punched it out with the Classic Label Punch.  I adhered this to the card with, you guessed it, Stampin' Dimensionals!



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Friday, January 27, 2017

Adventurous Balloon Shaker

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   Last weekend, I attended my Stampin' Up group's Occasions and Sale-a-Bration get-together.  One of my fellow demonstrators showed us a really cute card she made with the Balloon Adventures Bundle of products.  I recreated the card and I'd like to show you a couple of tricks!

First, I ran a quarter sheet of Emerald Envy Card Stock through the Big Shot using the main (biggest) Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits Die. I trimmed the sides along the score line that you'll get when you cut this piece and then I trimmed the top and bottom so that they're approximately the same width as the side borders, like this.


How did I get that Whisper White banner, you ask? There's no separate thinlit or punch to make it, so I ran a strip of Whisper White through the Big Shot with the same thinlit, positioned like this.

The banner comes out like this. You'll need to trim off the excess, so that you're left with just the banner piece. The embossed lines make that easy to do!


Next, I cut a piece of Window Sheet and a piece of Party Animal Designer Series Paper so that they are the size as the Emerald Envy frame.  I can't give you the exact dimensions because YMMV* depending on how you've trimmed the frame.  I ran some Whisper White scraps through the Big Shot using the polka dot, solid, and striped balloon thinlits.  I stamped the solid balloon in Pacific Point with the striped balloon stamp from the "Balloon Adventures" set.  I also stamped the banner and the "party on!" sentiment in Pacific Point onto the banner.  I adhered all these pieces to the frame with Snail Adhesive.  I used Glue Dots to adhere the Window Sheet to the frame.

I used the fabulous new Foam Adhesive Strips on the back of the Window Sheet/frame form the top (outer) side of the shaker card.  The filler is several Crushed Curry, Emerald Envy, and Pacific Point bows, cut with the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits Dies, along with some sequins stripped from a length of Gold Sequin Trim.  Because I wanted to make sure the edges of the frame lined up with the edges of the DSP, I centered the filler on the DSP and then applied the Window Sheet/frame to the DSP.  That way, I don't have to hope everything lines up and the filler doesn't fall out! I adhered this assembly to a Pacific Point Card Stock lengthwise card base with Fast Fuse Adhesive.
* your mileage may vary


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Glue Dots
[103683]
$5.25
Big Shot
[143263]
$110.00

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Clean and Simple Balloon Adventures

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I have a serious problem:  I love everything in Stampin' Up's 2017 Occasions Catalog!  I bought way more than usual because I just couldn't choose which ones to buy--so I bought ALL the stuff I liked.  I'm fortunate that I have a wonderful job that allows me to do that--but I'm also fortunate because I'm a Stampin' Up demonstrator, so I get a discount on my own purchases.  How sweet is that? You can be a Stampin' Up demo, too!  Contact me and I'll give you all the details!

Today's card is made with the "Balloon Adventure" stamp set.  It's one of the make-and-take cards we're going to do at a workshop this weekend.  I didn't want to bring my Big Shot with me, so I designed two M&T cards without having to use the Big Shot.  That's an accomplishment for me.  I usually have a die cut or an embossed element on my cards.
Oh, I hear you:  "Didn't you cut the layered squares with the Big Shot?"  Well, you are right--I did cut them.  Twelve sets of them!  I'm going to give the stampers pre-cut pieces to work with--just so I don't have to lug that Big Shot.  Let's look at the rest of the card.

I stamped the sentiment from the "Balloon Adventure" stamp set in Pacific Point ink onto a pre-cut square of Whisper White.  I adhered this to a pre-cut scalloped square of Calypso Coral.  Both these squares were cut with the Layering Squares Framelits, which I love!!

Next, I stamped two of the balloons from the set onto Whisper White scraps--the polka dotted balloon is Emerald Envy and the striped balloon is Calypso Coral.  I punched these out with the Balloon Bouquet Punch.  (Yes, I'll be bringing that to the workshop!)

To build the card,  I added a 3-3/4' by 1-1/2" strip of Party Animal Designer Series paper to the bottom of a 3-3/4' by 5" Whisper White mat.  I wrapped a length of 1/8" Emerald Envy Taffeta Ribbon around before adhering this piece to a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" piece of Emerald Envy Card Stock and then onto a Pacific Point Card Stock card base, cut lengthwise.

I adhered the sentiment and the balloons onto the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Finally I tied a Party Animal Embellishment onto the Emerald Envy Ribbon with a length of Whisper White Baker's Twine.  I think the stampers at the workshop will love this card!


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