Tonight's Workshop

Tonight's another workshop. I do love workshops because there are so many fun ideas to share. My customers mostly like to do Totally Hands On workshops, so these are examples of a 5 minute card and a 10 minute card. It's all in the layers and the tools. This first card is a CASE from Diane Noble, who CASEd her upline. (Copy And Steal Everything.) I loved it so much that I had to use the idea. And who doesn't need a 5 minute card once in awhile?
This second card is just a bit more work. The back Barely Banana panel was run through the SU! Flourish texture plate and then the side punched with the new SU! eyelet punch. The girl and dog were stamped in StazOn Black and then colored with markers. The dog is sitting on a round tab punch and he was punched out with the 3/4" circle punch. Add a bit of bling (Fire Rhinestones) and the tab is no longer just a tab, but a decoration on the card. A bit of Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon finishes off the project.
So...there are some ideas for you and alternatives to the square on the square layout. A few little pieces of Designer Paper and some layers and you have a beautiful card.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Something Smells Fishy Frame

Ha ha! Our boys' bathroom, which is also the main bathroom has a fish theme. For a long time, I've been staring at one wall, wanting a wall hanging, but not wanting to pay very much for it. So today's Technique Challenge on SCS was to use the rubberband and VersaMark technique. Here's the version of it that I learned originally. Take the acrylic attachment for the brayer and wrap some rubber bands around it, so that the bands go in different directions. Ink it up with VersaMark and run across glossy or whisper white cardstock. After you are done, switch to the rubber brayer attachment and brayer color over the cardstock. The Versamark will resist most of the classic ink and leaves a wavy pattern. Well, how perfect is this for an underwater scene???!!! Yup, that's what I did. Before Versamarking, I brayered 2 colors of green on the glossy. After VersaMarking the glossy white, I brayered Brilliant Blue and Ballet Blue. I repeated the Versamark and blue layers on a sheet of Vellum. The use of vellum is our TAWC for this week, hosted by Sharon Graham. (That's the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge) I had some wallpaper border hanging around, never applied in the bathroom because my DH didn't like it, so I cut out some of those images. Some of the wallpaper pieces are glued on the glossy and some are glued on the vellum in front of the glossy. I was hoping that the vellum in between would make it look like some of the fish were farther away. Not so bad for homemade art. So, what do you think? Does it look like an underwater scene?
Sharon's Vellum Cards
Joanne's Vellum Card
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Shaving Cream Technique

Yesterday's Inspiration Challenge on SCS was to go to Flutter and choose something that inspires you. I chose a pearl globe necklace because of the background cloth that it was on. It reminded me of the shaving cream technique. The "globe" of pearls is a baggie with pearls from the Pretties Kit taped to the back of the glossy cardstock, after I punched out a 1 3/4" circle. The top of the necklace was created by punching the eyelet punch in brushed silver and then punched out with a 1" circle punch. The top is half of a 1/2" circle punch. The medalion for the saying was created by a scallop punch and using the corner rounder punch on the circle that was punched out of the shaving cream piece. I hope you like the card, because it sure was fun!
Shaving Cream Technique: spray some shaving cream into a metal pie pan; put drops of reinkers with one or more colors (here with Lilac & Eggplant) in the shaving cream and swirl around. Place a piece of glossy white cardstock on the shaving cream, lift up, and repeat until it's covered with shaving cream. Place the glossy cardstock on a non-porous surface (like inside a metal sink) and wipe the shaving cream off with a paper towel. And look at that great result! If it's not dark enough for you, add a bit more reinker and repeat.
Thanks for stopping by the stamping station.
Blessings,
Julie

Texture for Mother's Day

Time to play with those new texture plates from SU! again. Here's how I made this great back- ground. Ink up the brayer and roll it across the texture plate. Using your multipurpose pad, place your piece of cardstock on the texture plate and cover with the impressions pad and the cover plate. Run the cardstock through your Big Shot as usual. That simple. I found that it works sometimes better than others. There are a few blotches and sometimes it looks like the cardstock slid across the ink, but this one turned out great. The flowers were made with the Polka Dot Punches SAB stamp set and the 5 petal punch. Nice and simple.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Classy & Fabulous

I''m testing out another new stamp set from the new Idea Book & Catalog. Wow, was this fun! I'll be going to a meeting at my upline's house tomorrow night and needed a swap card, so here's what I did. I used the SC216 layout from SCS and the WT206 for today, which was to use stripes. I chose the stripes sheet and the flourish sheet from my new Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper. Aren't those colors wonderful? After stamping the girl in StazOn Black on SU's Shimmery White cardstock, I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Ink Pads, and Blender Pens to color the girl and the chair. I stamped the dog and the shopping bags in StazOn Black, colored them with my blender pens, punched them out and attached. I used a very thin strip of Shimmery White as the baseboard of the room that she's in. I thought the striped DP made for a great wallpaper in her house.
Supplies: 1/2", 3/4", 1" circle punches, Round Tab Punch, Coluzzle, Big Shot, Scallops #2 Bigz Die, Cropadile, Vintage Brads.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Color Combo of the Day & Mercy's Sketch

This first card is for the sketch on Mercy's blog. It's a fun sketch and I thought it would work nicely for a masculine birthday card using my Branch Out set. I know I'm repeating myself, but I LOVE THIS STAMP SET!!! The background of the tree scene was made using the Watercolor Wash technique. What's that? Well, color a bit with your watercolor wonder crayon on the plastic of a stamp set container. Mist a sponge and pick up the color off of the plastic. Rub the sponge across a piece of shimmery white cardstock. Repeat with other colors if desired. So on this card, I used Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, and Always Artichoke crayons. Isn't that fun? The DP is To the Nines, a new SU! Designer Paper.
This card is for the color challenge of the day. I was a bit leery of putting Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss and More Mustard together, but it turned out better than I thought it would. The background Mustard is DP run through the Big Shot with the Flourish texture plate from SU! After running it through to get the texture, I sanded it so that the white would show through on the design. The flowers are the Simple Flower Embosslit and the leaves are the Little Leaves sizzlet. The dots in the center of the flower are from the Bold Cupcakes sizzlets. I took a ribbon slide from my Hodgepodge Hardware and after filling the channel with Tombow, I sprinkled it with Fine Cosmo Glitter and set it aside to let it dry. I love the look of it. Really dresses up the ribbon.
That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

My Turn to Host the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge

Hi there, stamping friends. It's my week to host the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge. I decided to make a layout and see what my stamping buddies could come up with. So this is what it looks like.
I made 2 cards for the challenge to showcase a simpler card and a more time-intense card. I'll be sending these in to Stampin' Up!'s monthly card contest.

This first card is a simple masculine card. I used To the Nines Designer Specialty Paper (and oh my is this stuff gorgeous!), Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow and Very Vanilla cardstocks. There's a bit of 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain on the sides and the little pieces of Sage Shadow have the diamond pattern from the Stampin' Up! exclusive Texturz Plates. I cut out the circles with the coluzzle and distressed the edge of the chocolate chip circle with my Cutter Kit. I stamped the train from Happiness is a Journey in Sage Shadow. I used my Chocolate Chip marker on the word "Father" from the Father's Day greeting in the All Holidays set.
This next card was really fun to make. The back- ground Banana and Celery cardstocks were run through with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Texturz Plates. To get the best impression from your texture plate, spritz the cardstock with water, before you run it through the Big Shot. The scallop is from the Scallop Circles #2 die. Designer Papers are the Delicate Dots set from the current Sale-A-Bration catalog. I embossed the Mother's Day saying in Iridescent Ice powder and paper pierced the scallops. After stamping the butterflies (you'll have to email me for info on those!), I cut them out and embossed them with Iridescent Ice. The leaves and branch are from my new Sizzlet Little Leaves.
Here is what Sharon came up with for the layout.
The Three Amigas would LOVE to see what you can do with this layout. Please post your project on SCS and use TAWC in the key words so that we can find your project.
Until then, have fun stamping!
Blessings,
Julie

More Valentine's Day Cards

More from Valentine's Day. This first card is for my youngest son who is totally into trains. I wanted to keep it simple for him and so I stamped the train from Happiness is a Journey in Craft Basic Black on Ski Slope Designer Paper (retired). I punched out some hearts with my Heart to Heart punch and glued it all together. It does look a lot better IRL - sorry about the photo quality.
And this card is for my middle son. I had fun stamping the sentiment and the puffs of smoke over it. Took a little cutting and gluing, but I like the effect. You can click on the photo to enlarge it. I sponged the sky and made the water with my ticket corner punch.
Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day and did something fun and exciting.
Supplies: Putt Putt, Holidays & Wishes stamp sets. Basic Black, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise cardstock. Ticket Corner Punch, Sponges, Blender Pens.
Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day.
Blessings,
Julie

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a card that I made for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. (WSC65) Beate found this sketch in the Idea Book and Catalog. That catalog is definitely worth the money! What a great sketch, right? This was so much fun, especially because I was able to use one of my new stamp sets for it! Yahoo!!! Isn't that dog too much fun???
I'm going to give this to my son Todd tomorrow for a Valentine's card. He's 12 - he doesn't want the hearts and red & pink cards. I bet he'll love the dog. I'm not so happy with the sentiment. It looks more like a football than a series of ovals. And what would a football have to do with a dog driving a Jeep? Why is the dog driving the Jeep, anyway? Really, I guess it doesn't matter, because none of it makes sense. BUT it's FUN!!! Yippee!
Supplies: Hit the Road, Putt Putt, and One of a Kind stamp sets. Whisper White, Old Olive, So Saffron, Tangerine Tango cardstocks and Haiku DP (retired). StazOn Black, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa classic inks. Blossoms & Basics chipboard (retired), Blender Pens, Stampin' Up! texture plates, Oval, Wide Oval punches, oval coluzzle cutter.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all. I hope you plan to do something unusual for the day.
Blessings,
Julie

!!!Blog Candy Winner!!!

We have a winner! Thank you to all who entered my first ever blog candy giveaway. I hope you all continue to come by and visit.

Drum roll please...........................................

And the winner is.....................................................




Korryn!!!

Please email me so that we can arrange the delivery of the goodies.

Have a wonderful Valentine's weekend!

Another Challenge Card

Here's another card that I made for today's LSC207 challenge. I have so many strips of Rose Red and Regal Rose, so I thought this would be a good excuse to use them. My other item that I don't usually do is to use every piece cut out by the Big Shot dies. I wove the strips of cardstock together to make the simple background, then glued the flowers on. This was fun! I might just make this into a Mother's Day card. Think it would be acceptable for that? Oh, I have to tell you about this color inspiration. I was at Bible Study last week and we were watching a Beth Moore video. Well, she had the most adorable outfit on, and being the stamper that I am, I had to jot down the color combo because I loved it so much! LOL! I'm going to have to use this combo again.
Supplies for this project are pure and simple: Rose Red, Regal Rose, and Chocolate Chip cardstocks. Flower Layers #3 bigz die and the Big Shot.

Stay Tuned....

Yes, I'll be drawing the winner for the blog candy soon. I have to wait for my children to return from school so that they can help. Soon!
Here's the card that I'll be giving to my wonderful husband tomorrow. I used the LSC207 on SCS today for my inspiration. The challenge was to use or do 2 things that you haven't used/done for awhile. This is what I used/did
1. rub-ons
2. chipboard
3. cutter kit
4. weathered background technique
I popped the heart out of the retired Blooms & Basics chipboard, glued the DP to it and sanded the edges, took the hobby blade to the back to cut the heart out of the DP, then used my retired rub-ons for the Love You saying. Then I got out my Priceless dry embossing template and embossed a bunch of overlapping hearts on the Sage Shadow piece. I distressed the Kraft and Chocolate cardstocks. I cut the bottom of the Kraft cardstock with my Cutter Kit and then distressed the curvy edge.
Weathered Background Technique: Open up your classic or craft ink pad. Starting somewhere in the middle of the cardstock, rub the ink pad across the cardstock. Repeat starting in different areas. I did this with both the Sahara Sand ink and the Sage Shadow ink pads. Doesn't that look great? It's a super and easy way to make a background. Try it in your scrapbooks when you want a background without too much going on and specific colors.
So, there's a technique and many items that I haven't used for awhile. Hope it gave you some new ideas or helped you remember some things you haven't done for awhile. Let me know what you come up with for this challenge. I'd love to see it!
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Blog Candy Time! Click Here to See the Post.

You Crack Me Up!

What can you do with Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette, and Kiwi Kiss? Make an Easter card! This is a stamp set that is new to me, but not to the catalog. Isn't that little chick cute??? This stamp set is called A Good Egg and I'm really loving it. I stamped the chick and egg in Basic Black (big mistake - should have used StazOn for the watercoloring) and cut them out after coloring them with ink from the lids and my Aquapainter.
The white background behind the chick and egg is stippled. Stippled? Take a stipple brush, ink it on your stamp pad, then dab the bristles on your cardstock. I stippled with all three colors so that it would have an interesting texture. The smaller Kiwi Kiss cardstock was run through my Big Shot with my Priceless dry embossing template. Yup! Use the template, texture mat and pad, one cutting mat and the bread board.
Now, don't forget the glitter! For the easiest application, use the 2-Way Glue Pen and a Powder Pal tray. Doesn't this look great with the glitter? I think it really finished off the design.
Supplies: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum cardstocks, Bella Rose DP. A Good Egg stamp set. Priceless dry emboss template, Big Shot, Aquapainter, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Stipple Brush, Large and Small Oval Punches, 2-Way Glue Pen, Powder Pal Tray.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Embossing With Classic Ink - Another TAWC and Today's Technique Challenge

So what's black and white and red all over? The Three Amigas Weekly Challenge! Yes, this is my second entry for the challenge. I'm just having so much fun with it. Check out our TAWC Gallery. I decided to combine today's Technique Challenge at Splitcoast with our TAWC to see what I could come up with. The Technique is to cut something out: design from DP, a stamped image, a border... so I thought of stamping a border in black on red and then that's as far as my idea went. Once I figured out that this border was for the sides, the card fell together in a few minutes. I just love it when that happens! So try this method of embossing: ink your stamp in VersaMark, then, without stamping on your paper, ink it again in your color (here it's black). Sprinkle the stamped image with Clear Embossing Powder and heat. Cool, huh? No more messy Craft/Pigment inks necessary! Love it. A lot easier to clean up, too! The black paper has the leaves from Refuge and Strength clear embossed and the leaves are also clear embossed in the corners of the focal image. Add a little dotting for interest and it's finished.
Supplies: Beautiful Borders & Refuge and Strength stamp sets. Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Ski Slope DP (retired). Basic Black, Real Red, VersaMark inks. Clear EP, Black Journaler.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Three Amigas Black, White and Red

This week is Joanne's (aka sleepy inseattle) turn to set the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge. Black and white, with a bit of red. How fun! As soon as she announced what it would be, I thought of this. This card was screaming at me to be made, so I dropped my preparations for a workshop and made it. LOL! It's hard to see, but the main white sheet with the piercing also has leaves clear embossed on it. I used my Watercolor Vine Jumbo Wheel with VersaMark and clear embossing powder. This idea is also from Joanne. Joanne, you rock! Yes, it was a pain to cut out those little birds, but I really wanted the special effect...so worth it! We would love it if you'd like to play along. Just post your card on SCS and use TAWC in the key words. While you're at SCS, check out the wonderful Stampin' Up! gallery. All of the past and present stamp sets are listed there individually.
Supplies: Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock. Branch Out stamp set. Basic Black and Real Red Classic Ink. Crafter's Tool Kit and the wonderful SU! paper snips.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Blog Candy Time!

Blog candy? What am I celebrating? Well, I've been blogging for 4 months and the hit counter went over 2000! I'm excited! Thanks to all of you who have made it happen. This is the blog candy I'm offering: Best Blossoms, Big Blossom, Best Yet, Eggplant and French Blue 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbons. To enter for the blog candy, leave a comment on this post, telling me what you enjoy about my blog and what you'd love to see more of. If you don't have a Google/Blogger ID, make sure to leave an email so that I can contact you if you win. I'll be drawing the winner on Friday, February 13th. Please, only one entry per person.

Thank you so much!

A Project From Today's Workshop

Here's a "5 minutes" card that my customers made today at a totally-hands-on workshop. We stamped the purse, greeting, and shoes from Humor In High Heels in Lovely Lilac. The Fine Cosmo purple glitter was shaken on after drawing the bow of the purse with the 2-Way Glue Pen. We made dots on the scallop circle with the Signo White Gel Pen. This is such a fun stamp set.
Supplies: Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, and Lovely Lilac cardstocks. Humor in High Heels stamp set. 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and Scallop Circle Punches, 2-Way Glue Pen, Fine Cosmo Glitter, Signo White Gel Pen.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Branching Out

This has to be one of my favorite new sets out of the new Stampin' Up! catalog. I love it! You can use different colors to get such unique layouts. This was my first attempt for a make & take at tomorrow's workshop, but it just wasn't quite right. I think I'm not satisfied any more with one background layer. It just doesn't look finished off. So...I tried again. This time, with a brain-blast idea for color combo, I tried again.
This is it! Hurray! Know that feeling when you make a card and inside, your brain is screaming "YES! That's it!"? Well that's the feeling I had as this one was coming together. It's still very simple, but I love the clean lines and simple colors. I stamped the butterflies twice each time, before reinking. (That's called stamping off.) I also stamped off the leaves to get two colors on the tree. Add a bit of sponging for the grass, some retired Hodgepodge antique brass and Kiwi Satin Ribbon, and we have the card for tomorrow's workshop! Woo Hoo!!!
Thanks for visiting the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Yummy Sale-A-Bration Swap Card

Here's a card featuring the SAB Delicate Dots Designer Paper, an accordian flower, and the SAB Yummy stamp set. I used the Top Note Bigz Die for both layers behind the accordian flower and cut on the perforation on the Designer Paper layer. (If you're left with some little rough tabs, sand them off with the SU! sanding block.) I used my markers to color the Yummy stamp with Celery and Bashful Blue before stamping on Whisper White cardstock. I hand cut around the stamp and then around the blue behind it. How do you make the accordian flower? For this size accordian, I used a 12" by 3/4" piece of DS paper and scored it every 1/4". After folding into an accordian, I attached both ends together. Make sure you let the adhesive dry at this point. After I figured out where my circle was going to be, I applied 2-Way glue in a circular shape, being generous with it, then placed the accordian on it and held it gently down while the glue dried. Didn't take long at all. For the center, I put two pop-up glue dots, one on top of the other, to hold the Yummy piece in place above the accordian.
Supplies: Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Whisper White cardstock, Delicate Dots DP, Top Note Bigz Die, Yummy stamp set, Celery 5/8" grosgrain, 2-Way Glue Pen.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Sale-A-Bration! Sweet! Stems, that is!

Yummy! That's the SAB stamp set that the swirl and sentiment are from. SAB? Sale-A-Bration! Here's a card that I'm going to swap with. Hope the other demonstrators like it. I used Sweet Stems for the flower image and colored it in with marker. To finish it off, I gave it a hand drawn frame with my marker and used my color spritzer on the background. I used my crimper on the Lilac piece. I stamped the swirl in VersaMark and then Lilac, then down on the paper to emboss it with Clear EP. With Love was colored with markers and punched with the Word Window, then dotted with a marker. The background on the Pink Passion is the Sanded Background stamp. Add a few rhinestone brads, a bow attached with a mini glue dot and voila! Finished! Looks like a lot of work, but very simple. :-)
Colors are White, Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise.
Thanks for visiting the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie

Three Amigas and Color Combo Challenges

Here's a double challenge card! The Three Amigas challenge for this week was to use a layout that you can use at any time. For me it's the pic on the left, saying on the right. Very basic. Now throw in this week's color challenge of Caramel, Coral, and Olive and you have card! I was doubtful about this color combo at first, but it does seem to work! I stamped the dress from Humor in High Heels 3 times and cut out the dress and flower to paper piece it. For the frame, I used chipboard, covered it in classic Caramel (because I didn't have craft), then clear embossed it.
If you'd like to play along with the Three Amigas, just make a card, post it online and then leave a comment here with the link. Or you can post it on SCS and type TAWC in the key words.
Supplies, Cameo, Olive, Caramel, White cardstock, Haiku Designer Paper, chipboard, clear embossing powder, Sizzix Tween Lattice texture plate
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie