Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Hoppy Easter

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I don't really "do" Easter cards. I do birthday (better late, than never), Christmas, and thank you cards. Maybe a retirement or graduation card, when needed. Oh, and sympathy cards. But I don't "do" the other holidays. Not Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween (I always LOVE Stampin' Up's Halloween sets--but I don't have anyone to send Halloween cards to), or Thanksgiving. I don't know why. I just don't--don't judge me!

However, when I was in Texas and got to attend Lydia Fiedler's Saturday stamping class, one of her cards was this totes adorable Easter card! I wasn't going to turn that down, now was I? Here's the card Lydia designed, with just a tiny tweak from me.

Lydia made a template for us by pre-cutting the bunny from the Basket Builder Framelits from a sheet of card stock and then aligned it in the MISTI Tool.  She also pre-cut a fluffle of bunnies from Whisper White Card Stock. Using the MISTI Tool and the template, we could put our die-cut bunny into the template and then ink the bunny stamp from the "Basket Bunch" stamp set in Archival Black Ink and get the bunny stamped perfectly onto the pre-die-cut bunny!  We colored in the bunny's ears and bow tie with a Watermelon Wonder Stampin' Write Marker.

We stamped the word "happy" from the "Happy Celebrations" stamp set in Watermelon Wonder onto a 3-3/4" by 5" panel of Whisper White Card Stock and the "blob," also from "Happy Celebrations," in Mint Macaron Ink. Lydia performed some stamp surgery and cut apart the Easter stamp from the "Suite Sentiments" set so that just the word "Easter" remained. We stamped this onto the card in Archival Ink. 

We added the bunny to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I adhered the stamped panel to a 3-3/8" by 5-1/8" Watermelon Wonder mat and then onto a Mint Macaron Card Stock Card base, cut lengthwise and in the landscape orientation. 

So cute! I'm glad I got to play with these sets at Lydia's stamping class!!
 

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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Lovely Medallion

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #saleabration2017   Stampin' Up released three additional Sale-A-Bration products midway through the SAB period.  I was all over the Glimmer Paper Assortment pack which "sold out" in no time! I wasn't so enthralled with the "Reverse Words" or "Make a Medallion" sets--that is, until the wonderful Lydia Fiedler used the medallion set at her Saturday morning stamping class.

Lydia is a stampin' and design genius and I love the cards she designed for us to make!  I don't think I would ever have paired Pool Party with Real Red--but Lydia thought it would look perfect--and it does! See for yourself!

We used the MISTI Tool to position the two rings of the medallion perfectly--one stamped in Real Red and the other in Pool Party.  Because the stamps are photopolymer, you can see right through them so it was easy to place the "love" sentiment right in the middle of the medallion.

We tied on a length of Linen Thread before adhering the stamped Whisper White panel to a Real Red Card Stock card base, cut lengthwise.  For a finishing touch, we used a glue dot to adhere a wooden Sending Love Embellishment to the card. Super cute!

If you want your very own "Make a Medallion" stamp set, you'll have to hurry! It's FREE with a $50 purchase through this Friday, March 31!  Contact me to place your order before time runs out!!!



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Glue Dots
[103683]
$5.25

Monday, March 27, 2017

Avant Garden Smackdown

#stampinup    #faithfulinkspirations   #saleabration2017   I'm back!  Man, oh man! I was on a business trip in Texas at the beginning of the month and I caught a wicked virus of some sort. I was down and out for more than a week and I'm still recovering.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't the flu, but it was something, all right!  I'm still working my way back to full energy level--and I'm pretty close--but it was a long time coming!

So that was the icky Texas news. The wonderful Texas news is that I was in the right place at the right time and I was able to attend Lydia Fiedler's monthly stamping class in Austin! Woot! Chris, one of my coworkers and fellow Stampin' Up demonstrator, came along, too! We were super stoked to get to see Lydia and her Saturday stampers!

Here are a couple of pics of Lydia demonstrating the techniques we would use on our cards.


Here's Chris and me as we get ready to get down to stampin' business.


And here we are with Lydia! Squee!!!


We made three awesome cards during the class, which I'll be showing you today through Wednesday.

First up is an awesome card that uses the Sale-A-Bration set, "Avant Garden," and the "smackdown" technique.  I'd never done this technique but it's super cool and super easy. Just ink up your image and stamp, as usual. Then, without reinking, stamp around the image a bit. This will give you a watercolor effect.  See what I mean?
The flowers are stamped in Watermelon Wonder, the leaves and sprinkles are stamped in Old Olive.  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink.  I cut down the main panel to 3-3/4" by 5" and then adhered it to a 3-5/8" by 5-1/8" Old Olive panel before adhering it to a Thick Whisper White Card Stock card base, cut lengthwise.

Isn't this a wonderful card? Isn't Lydia a talented designer? Want to get your hands on this stamp set? You'll need to place a $50 order by midnight (MT) this Friday March 31, 2017, and then you can choose this set as your FREE 
Sale-a-Bration item. Hurry! You don't want to miss out!


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Friday, March 10, 2017

Manly Birthday

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   It was love at first sight when I saw the Urban Underground Specialty Designer Series Paper in the Occasions catalog.  I'm a sucker for black and white--Very Vanilla in this case--and for geometric designs.  It pairs so wonderfully with the Hexagons Embossing Folder, too.


This card is a "manly" card (but I like it, too).  I started by stamping one of the badges from the "Badges and Banners" stamp set in Versamark onto Very Vanilla.  Then I sprinkled on some Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and set the image with my Heat Tool.  I did the same with the "No. 1" circle image.  I punched these out with the Best Badge and 1-3/8" Circle Punches.


Next, I embossed a 3-3/4" by 5" piece of Very Vanilla Card Stock with the Hexagons Embossing Folder.  I love the deep image it makes--and it's reversible, so you can either have the embossed or the debossed side for the top of your card.  I used Fast Fuse Adhesive to adhere two 2" by 5" strips of the Urban Underground Specialty DSP to the embossed panel.  I find that Fast Fuse is best to use when adhering to embossed card stock.  I adhered the badge and the circle to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.


I adhered the Very Vanilla panel to a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" Delightful Dijon mat and then onto a Basic Black Card Stock card base, cut lengthwise.  On the inside of the card, I've adhered a Very Vanilla panel onto which I've stamped a birthday greeting (not shown).


We'll be making this card at my birthday card stamp-a-stack on March 25th.  I still have a few spots left, so please contact me if you'd like to join us!








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Heat Tool
[129053]
$30.00

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Super Birthday

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   Today's card is one of the cards we're going to make at my birthday card stamp-a-stack.  (Yes, I still have a few spots open.)  It's made with the "Birthday Blast" stamp set available in the Occasions catalog.  I like this set a lot because it's so fun--and can be used to make a great card to celebrate anyone's birthday.


I started by stamping the large image sideways in Island Indigo Ink onto a 3-7/8" by 5" Whisper White panel.  I stamped the image twice--once on the right and once on the left.  Next, I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Mint Macaron onto a 1-1/2" by 5" strip of Whisper White, after I flagged both ends with the Banner Triple Punch so I could see exactly how to place the image.


I cut a 2" by 5" strip of Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper and flagged the ends with the Banner Triple Punch.  I also punched a Mint Macaron Card Stock circle with the  2" Circle Punch.


Once I had all my card parts ready, I layered them on top of the large image:  first the DSP strip, then a Silver Metallic Foil Doily, then the Mint Macaron circle, and finally the sentiment strip.


I adhered the stamped piece to a 3-3/4" by 5-1/8" Island Indigo Card Stock mat and then onto a Thick Whisper White Card Stock card base.


For a finishing touch, I added some Pool Party (Subtles) Enamel Shapes, because they're so cute!


Let me know if you want to come make this card--and three others!--at my March 25th stamp-a-stack!  I'd love to have you join us.  Contact me for details!




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