Sweet Baby!

Something for Baby, Bordering Blue, Pretty in Pink

I think I love this new stamp set from Stampin' Up!  I love how there are matching framelits.  Wishing a also had a photo of the pennant banner that my SIL and I made with the carriage and a onesie cut out with the framelits.  This card incorporates some retired product and new product.  It's fun to bring out some of those "oldies" that you haven't seen for awhile.  I used Pretty in Pink and Bordering Blue for this card, both retired colors, along with the vintage safety pin, taffeta ribbon and flower brads, all retired.  Current product is the banner punch, the flower punch, the Something for Baby stamp set and framelits.  Stay tuned for more from this wonderful set!
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Pinks & Purples Workshop Projects

Happy Watercolors, Elegant Eggplant, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White

 Happy Watercolors again????  Yes, I really do enjoy this set and the versatility of it.  Playing with color combos, I really wanted to get my Raspberry Ripple out.  What to put with it?  Well, why not Elegant Eggplant?  The guests at the workshop really liked this color combo.  It's a bit hard to see here, so try it in person.  I think you'll be amazed at how it really pops.  We stamped the background three times without re-inking the stamp so that we could get that really cool hombre look.  (That really is Raspberry Ripple.  Isn't it a beautiful color, even as it gets lighter?)  We stamped the flower and psssst... in Elegant Eggplant.  The ribbon was tied in a single knot and attached with a mini glue dot.  This is a 5 minute card that you could duplicate for all kinds of occasions.

Kind & Cozy, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

 This card was loved by many and yet it's really quite simple.  I was inspired by pinterest but took it a different direction than the original stamper.  The gingham Designer Series Paper so nicely matches the stamp from Kind & Cozy.  The cup image is from the same stamp set.  The word set that we chose from is Petite Pairs.  I love that set!  It's so nice to have a greeting on the front that coordinates with the wishes inside! 

Thanks so much for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.  I'll look forward to seeing you soon!

Blessings,
Julie

Watercoloring Techniques

Happy Watercolor, Delighful Dozen, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

 For my last workshop, I wanted to show the guests how many ways they could color in a lined image without going to a lot of work.  This technique, Watercoloring with Markers, is one of my absolute faves.  Simply stamp with StazOn Black or any other solvent ink onto a piece of watercolor paper (Stampin' Up!'s paper is the best - only because I've tried others and their absorbency rate is fantastic!), use a marker to go over the accent lines on the stamp, then use an Aqua Painter to spread the color out.  If some of your image ends up too light, go over some of the accent lines again with the marker when your color is dry.  On this card we used Cherry Cobbler.  That is my absolute favorite shade of red!!!  We made a removable bookmark with the watercolor paper and flower image, tucked it behind a piece of Gold Vellum and the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.  Those were attached with Mini Glue Dots.  We used the Tag Topper Punch to shape the top of the bookmark and some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine finishes the bookmark off.

Happy Watercolor, Cherry, Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold

I made this card because I wanted a stepped up version to show.  I love the layers of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and the Brushed Gold cardstock against each other.  Such an elegant look.  Here I used the Gold Washi Tape for a background and across the stem of the flower.  On this card I experimented with some watercolor paper from a local crafting store.  See how the image is washed out and there isn't much color variation?  It took a 1/2 hr for the little bit of water to soak into the paper.  I had to go over it again with the marker to get some color variation.  I was very disappointed.  Lesson learned.  Unless I'm using blender pens, DON'T use the cheap watercolor paper!  Because of the colors going on here, I chose not to use the Baker's Twine.  Instead, the Linen Thread looks quite fine. 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.  Let me know how you've been enjoying coloring in your stamps recently.
Blessings,
Julie

A Few Recent Workshop Projects

Simply Sketched Hostess Set, Watercolor Wander DSP

 Just in case you haven't picked it up yet, pretty much all of my workshops are Totally Hands On, which means that there is a very minimal amount of demonstrating and then the guests make 3-5 cards/projects.  This seems to be what the guests want and like and it's also a great way to get the tools into their hands to try out.  Would you buy a dress without trying it on to see if you liked it?  Nope!  Same thing with stamping and crafting supplies.  The more we can try things out, the better decision we can make on what we like to use and what we probably wouldn't use.  This card was inspired by a card on Pinterest.  I've changed the blue and green colors to be closer to the Designer Papers.  We used Marina Mist and Wild Wasabi.  Oh, and check out the background.  You'll find that we embossed it with a flowery embossing folder.  The subtle look is so fun and elegant, too.  I can't find the original (after searching for 10 minutes!) so my apologies to the original artist.  We added some pearls underneath the greeting as a nice accent to finish off the card.  I really love this Designer Paper Set!  It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to it after June 1st. 

 The next two cards here are a two-in-one set.  If you put the Yay word inside the word bubble before you cut the two out with your framelits and Big Shot, you can get two cards out of your supplies!  We used the Silver Foil sheets for our greeting, the clear window sheet from the Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the background is Wild Wasabi.  A few random holes were punched with our Paper Piercing Tool to put in a few random Mini Silver Brads.  We hid the glue for the window sheet behind the bubble frame so that it wouldn't show.  Quite a simple project and yet it looks very nice.  This one was a hit!

And here is the accompanying card, using the other part of the bubble.  Instead of trying to keep track of the tiny little piece of foil from the inside of the "a", we used a rhinestone.  Much prettier and easier!!!  The silver vellum cardstock looks so pretty against the Soft Sky cardstock and the silver ribbon really ties it off nicely.  (hahaha)  We hid the glue dots behind the polka dots so that you couldn't see any adhesive behind the vellum.  On both of these cards, we left the inside blank.  This allows you to use the card for many, many occasions.  Always handy in the world of "must have it right now" that we seem to be living in. 

Thanks so much for stopping by the Stamping Station.  I hope your week starts off with sunshine and stamping.

Blessings,
Julie

Swapping With my Upline

 The last time we swap- ped, we decided to do a card candy and two cards.  This is the first time that I've actually made card candy! Can't believe it took me this long to make some.  I need to start doing this for some hostess gifts.  (Leave me a comment if you would like this to be your next hostess gift.)  I really wanted a lot of layers for my card candy so that it would be easy to just plop onto a piece of folded cardstock to make a super quick card.  I also had a color theme of Island Indigo, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding and Whisper White.  So, what do you think?

 And this card was inspired by Try Stampin' On Tuesday's Challenge #158.  I loved the layout and needed an excuse to get my new IKAT photopolymer stamp set out.  Isn't this fun???? I used Always Artichoke for the cardstock layers and for the darker zigs on the middle layer.  The other colors are Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, and Pumpkin Pie, finished off with a taste of Very Vanilla.  The mini postage punch from Stampin' Up! looked like it was totally supposed to be coordinated with this stamp set, so I had to use it.  The postage square and small circles were finished off with the vintage button brads. 

And to finish off the swap, I threw in this card, which I also made into a project for a workshop.  There are so many fun layers on this card and my workshop guests were surprised that this card was actually quite simple to make.  We popped up the chevrons with Dimensionals that were cut in half so that you can't see them.  I really like how the Washi Tape finished off the card.  And yes, I do love it when I don't have to come up with the color combo.  The Designer Series Paper did that nicely for me.  I didn't buy the Starburst Sayings at first because I couldn't quite get a grasp on how to use them.  However, after cruising Pinterest, looking at possibilities, the set has really grown on me!  I love it that this easy set is so versatile and makes a mean masculine card.  Those masculine cards seem to be what a lot of my customers struggle with.
Well, thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.  It's been a fun day and we've seen gorgeous sunshine, too!
Many blessings,
Julie

Best Buds All the Way!

Making a Point, Soft Sky, Pacific Point, Whisper White

My upline is a wonderful woman whom I love to swap with.  Our swaps keep me stamping and reaching for more techniques, layouts, and color combos.  I made this card for our February swaps.  I really wanted to use the Best Buds stamp from Making a Point, one of the hostess stamp sets in the Occasions Catalog.  I haven't been very good about using my fancy paper clips from Stampin' Up! so this card gave me a good excuse to use one.  3 Mini Brads reflect the silver of the fancy paper clip.  The Designer Paper is High Tide from the Occasions Catalog.  (What a fun set of DP!)  The buds were cut out with a framelit from the Apothecary Accents set and the Big Shot.  Best Buds was restamped onto a piece of Soft Sky and cut out with a framelit from the Banners set and the Big Shot.  I used the Soft Sky, Pacific Point, and Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Markers to color in the image. 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.  Hope to see you again soon.
Blessings,
Julie

A Little Banner Fun

 Oh yes, banners are so fun and so in!  The smaller banners were made with Stampin' Up!'s Banner Blast and the Banner Punch from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.  (You only have 13 more days to order and be able to get these babies for FREE!)  I colored the Made a Wish stamp in with my Pacific Point and Pumpkin Pie markers before stamping them on Whisper White cardstock.  The banner behind it was embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  These banners were cut out with the Banners framelits and the Big Shot.  The lighthouse and sailboat are from the Settin' Sail photopolymer stamp set that I love so much.  Oh, see that background?  Well, you know that bubblewrap that the Envelope Punch Board comes in?  Well, ink that puppy up with some So Saffron ink and a brayer, then lay your cardstock over the top of it.  So much fun and super easy.  I'd forgotten about that technique until I came across the saved bubblewrap in my craft room.  It's always fun to bring back an oldie-but-goodie.

And this card ... well it was made with leftovers from a swap that I did.  See that cool image on the two smaller banners?  It's the Embossing Folder Resist technique.  Here are the directions:
1.  put a piece of wax paper in a detailed embossing folder and run through the Big Shot.
2.  build a sandwich on your ironing board:
     one piece of copy paper
     one piece of glossy cardstock, glossy side up
     wax paper with the embossed pattern
     one piece of glossy cardstock, glossy side down
     one piece of copy paper
3.  turn your iron onto the cotton setting and iron just for about 5 seconds
4.  ink up a brayer and spread the ink onto the glossy side of one of the glossy pieces of cardstock, rolling until it's even
5.  repeat with the second piece of glossy cardstock
6.  wipe away the extra ink with a tissue or paper towel. 
TADA!  You have a really cool looking piece of cardstock!  I used the arrows embossing folder from the Occasions Catalog.  I do love that folder. 
So, what do you think?  Ready to try it?  Let me know what you come up with.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Any Occasion Love You Card

Seasonal Sayings, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder

 This is a card that we made at a workshop before Valentine's Day.  I love it because it doesn't have to be for Valentine's Day!  Love You says a lot and can be used for so many occasions.  One of the fun elements in this card is the printed window sheet from the Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper.  It's a bit hard to see here, but looks great in person.  The workshop guests were a little perplexed, trying to figure out where the adhesive is on the window sheet.  Well, it's behind the stamps!  They had a choice of Mini Glue Dots or Tombow to use on the back side and hid the adhesive behind the stamp images.  The hearts that were punched out were used in the middle of the Love and on the inside.  (We crafters can't waste any cardstock, right?) 
Here's a challenge I'll throw out...tell someone who isn't expecting it that you love them and appreciate them.  Doesn't have to be a spouse or family member.  Maybe a friend needs to hear the words of encouragement.  Perhaps a favorite teacher from the past would be blessed by hearing from you.  Use your imagination and let me know who and why you've chosen your person.  Good luck! 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!
Blessings,
Julie

Wood Grain Owl Thank You

Seems like we're always needing thank you's around here.  And, oh yes!  I love the new Woodgrain background stamp.  It's gorgeous!  I used Early Espresso and stamped the Woodgrain background onto Chocolate Chip cardstock.  After punching out a 1 3/8" circle, I stamped the Woo-Hoo! in Always Artichoke onto Very Vanilla cardstock and cut it out with the coordinating Word Bubbles framelit.  Isn't it cute?

And you have to dress up the inside, right?  The Woodgrain was stamped in Crumb Cake onto Very Vanilla here.  The owl is Cajun Craze and Crumb Cake.  I hate trying to glue on those tiny dots for eyes, so always go with the white gel pen instead.  Makes my stamping life a ton easier.  The greeting is from Sassy Salutations.  I just used that at the last workshop and everyone was talking about how cute the greeting was.  It is cute.  Definitely cute. 

Have you used your owl punch recently?  If not, here's a challenge to you to get it out and see what you feel like making with it.  So much fun in one little punch!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Duck Dynasty Birthday Card

Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Early Espresso

Have you ever had to come up with a card with a theme that you don't have any stamps or backgrounds for?  Yup!  My son was invited to a Duck Dynasty birthday party.  Oiy!  Don't have any camo or realistic duck stamps.  Punt!  I made my own camo background with the frosting portion of the Cupcake Punch.  Yay!  The duck was masked before stamping because the original stamp is a duck pull toy.  If you cover the area that you don't want on your image with tape, ink, then pull the tape off, you will only have the portion of the image that you want when you stamp.  Another way, of course, is to use a marker.  Since I only wanted the duck to be one color, it was easier to mask.  I sponged a bit of Soft Sky around the duck and used my Old Olive marker to ground the duck.  I stamped the greeting in Early Espresso on Summer Starfruit and cut it out with the matching framelit from the Word Bubbles Framelits.  (Have I mentioned yet how much I love these framelits?!  They are da bomb!)  The duck was cut out with the Apothecary Framelits.  The background dots is a free embossing folder with any $50 purchase through the end of this month.  Yay for fun cards!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station! 

Blessings,
Julie

Loads of Valentines

On Wednesday night I was given the opportunity to stamp with our girls club at church.  What fun!  For those of you who know me, I'm a mom to three boys so I soak up the opportunity to hang out with girls.  And oh what fun we had!  I apologize for the pictures.  They were taken with my phone, so the colors aren't that true.  :-(

Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, retired Designer Paper

This first card was made with the 3rd grade girls.  It was kept simple so that it wouldn't be too time consuming and not too many decisions to make.  Even so, I included the retired triple heart punch to decorate the inside with.  Some of the girls took that and ran!  They decorated the outside with a cloud of hearts of different sizes.  I love it when I can see such fun creativity! It ended up being a very cute card that only takes 5 minutes. 

Whisper White, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Basic Gray, Soft Sky

This card was made by the 4th graders.  While a little more involved than the 3rd grade card, these girls were done first!  I wanted to show them how you can make a cool background by inking up your acrylic blocks.  They loved it.  And after finishing the card, they all decorated their envelopes to match.  You should have seen their smiles!

Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer Paper

The 5th graders made this card.  Still keeping it fairly simple, but showing them how to stamp and then punch out with a coordinating punch.  We also used a Dimensional to attach the flowers to the silver glimmer paper and Dazzling Details for the center of the flower.  Sorry, but the Designer Paper is retired.  Some of the girls switched a bit on this card, but not many.  We decorated the inside with flowers in the upper right and lower left corners.  They had the option of stamping Happy Valentine's Day if they wanted to. 

And the final card design was for the 6th graders!  Again a little more complicated to give them a better flavor of what you can do with stamps and papers.  The girls did fabulously with this!  Some of them were even able to follow the written instructions and complete it without assistance.  We used the retired Designer Label punch as a frame for the ticket.  Doesn't that fit perfectly?!  The Designer Paper and ribbon are retired.  Not very complicated again, but a pretty card.  They had a blast and I was able to also show them how to stamp and then punch with a coordinating punch.  Some of the girls started out a little nervous, but by the end they were all pretty excited!

Results of the night?  A success!  At least two of the four groups are going to invite me back to do the rubber stamping badge with them.  Oh how fun!!!!  Yes, I am looking forward to it.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

You're Peachy Keen!

You really are, you know.  Peachy keen, I mean.  :-D  This was the first chance I had to play with this Peachy Keen stamp set and On Film Framelits.  Isn't it fun?  Have you seen the sets yet?  They're great!  To start off with, I used my reinkers and Aquapainters to make the watercolor background on watercolor paper.  Next, punch the film frame out of Coastal Cabana with the framelit and the Big Shot.  Stamped the arrows and punched them out with a framelit.  Cut out the camera with the camera diecut.  The arrows were made with the new Arrows embossing folder.  I handcut the greeting after stamping in Calypso Coral.  The film frame and the greeting are popped up with dimensionals so that the film looks like it has space behind it.  So, what do you think?  Have you bought this set?  Were you tempted?  This is a great set for both cardmaking and scrapbooking!  Just wait til you see what I did with it for my husband's Valentine card.
Well, thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again. 
Blessings,
Julie

Vivid Vases Made Easy

Summer Starfruit, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, StazOn Jet Black

This is a one piece stamp.  It comes in wood only, but who cares?!  It's cute!  At first I wondered how I would use it and if I'd like to color it in all of the time.  Until this idea struck.  I used the Watercolor Block idea.  Make sure you stamp your main image in StazOn Jet Black so that your black ink doesn't run and stamp onto watercolor paper.  Ink your acrylic block. (SU's is the easiest since you have nice beveled sides to hold on to so your fingers don't get messy.)  Spritz a couple of times with water, holding the spray bottle about 6-8" away from the block, stamp down on the area of the image you want to color.  Clean your block and ink up with the next color, etc.  This is a 5 minute card if you're organized.  The hexagon design behind the image is the Hexagon Hive Thinlit Die from the Occasions Catalog.  The hexagon nicely compliments that Designer Paper from the Sale-A-Bration stack.  It's all finished off with the Summer Starfruit twine, also from the Sale-A-Bration catalog. 

Have you tried this technique before?  If so, I'd love to see what you've done with it.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

I Love the Envelope Punch Board!

 Check this out!  It's a card in an envelope.  It's made with that wonderful Envelope Punch Board.  I punched and scored at 3" on all 4 sides of a 6" x 6" piece of Designer Paper from the Sale-A-Bration stack.  The greeting is stamped with the See Ya Later stamp set and the banner was made with Geometrics, the triangle punch, and a piece of Linen Thread.  Yep. Very fun to make!  I chose not to round the edges of the envelope because of the way it closes.

You see, the label under the flowers is only attached with Dimensionals to the lower flap in a short "u" shape, leaving room for the upper flap to tuck in between the label and the lower flap.  That's what keeps it closed.  This design was inspired by LeeAnn Greff's blog.  It's a pretty easy card to make and sure to please.  Have you used your Envelope Punch Board?  What have you tried with it so far?

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Lego Man Punch Art

Tomorrow is my nephew's birthday party.  He's totally into Legos.  (What boy isn't, right?)  We bought him some Bionicles that were on his list.  I went to that wonderful Lego store at the mall to find them.  (Those stores are ZOOS, I tell you!  Kids everywhere!!!)  So, in honor of my nephew, I built a lego man for his card.  I used corner rounders on most things, the arms are word window punches, and the hands were made with the 1/2" circle and 3/4" circle punches.  The "feet" are popped up on dimensionals.  To finish off the gift, the box is wrapped in Lego people wrapping.  Yes, a coordinated gift.  That's truly one of the reasons that I love to make cards.  Another is for the kudos when your family or friends see what you've crafted. 
So, what do you think?  I'd love to see what you can do with your punches! 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!  I hope to see you back again soon.
Blessings,
Julie

Retrosketch Anyone?

Petite Petals, Flower Shop, Soft Sky, Pool Party, Black

Playing in another sketch challenge.  Fun stuff!  This will be another card for the workshop on Saturday.  I used the tag topper punch for the side piece.  The larger flower is stamped in Pool Party on Soft Sky cardstock.  The smaller flower is stamped in Pool Party on Pool Party cardstock and popped up with a dimensional.  A black candy dot finishes the flower.  I used a hostess set for the greeting.  So, what do you think?  Will the guests at the workshop like it?  I hope so! 
Ok, on to the sketch info.  This is based on challenge #99 from retrosketches.com.  I thought it would be fun to make the side panel into a tag. 
On to the next challenge!  Just kidding.  I need to load a video next.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again!
Blessings,
Julie

Try Stampin' On Tuesday's Challenge

Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple

Yes, here I am doing another challenge.  It really does help to have a place to jump off from.  :-D  Try Stampin' On Tuesday's challenge #153 was a great sketch!  I decided to go with a layer-less card, keeping it simple.  This will be a project for this weekend's workshop.  The colors didn't come out quite right, even though I messed with the photo quite a bit.  Sorry about that. 
When was the last time that you stamped with your blocks?  Yes, if you're not familiar with that technique, you ink up your acrylic block and stamp it down directly onto your cardstock.  Very fun!  Another way to do it is to spritz the block with a bit of water after you ink it.  If you spritz it, it works best to stamp it down on watercolor paper. 
Sunday is the Super Bowl.  My Seahawks are playing.  Can't wait!  I hope you have fun watching the game with family or friends.  I know I'll be enjoying another fine family gathering.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

The Coolest Flower Die Ever!

Want to see how to build a lovely flower with the new Bigz Die from Stampin' Up!?  Here's a quick 2 minute video to show you how easy it is!  Now I'm going to have to be making a bunch of these!!!  Oh, and it will certainly come in handy for the Valentine's Dinner that our youth group at church is putting on.  Yes, I'm going to be enjoying being in the decorating group. 

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,

Julie

Washi Valentine

Yes!  Playing with my toys, ahem, tools(!) again.  Thought this might be a fun way to show off my Gingham Garden Washi Tape and the hearts framelits from Stampin' Up!. For the saying, I covered the image of Vivid Vases with tape, inked up the saying, removed the tape and stamped it in Raspberry Ripple.  On the back side of the Whisper White cardstock, I drew a grid so that I would have more accurate placement of the hearts framelit.  Finished off with the washi tape and a rhinestone, it's a quick and simple card and easy to make multiples of.  Just one of the ideas that I'll be showing my customers at upcoming events.  Ooooooh, I just can't wait for Sale-A-Bration!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.  Have a super weekend!

Blessings,
Julie

Challenges and a Happy New Year

 Oiy!  Yes, it's been too long again.  My apologies.  I've been in my craft room making swaps for some demo friends of mine.  This card used the retrosketches #98 for the layout.  How fun is this?  I made the card into a file folder with the envelope punch board.  If you'd like to know how to make the file folder card, email me, respond here, or come to a Sale-A-Bration workshop.  This stamp is one of the great stamps in the See Ya Later set from the SAB catalog.  The DP is from the Occasions Catalog.  Of course I had to finish the card off with a few extra hearts and a bit of bling on the large heart.  Everyone needs a little bling!

I made this card with a color challenge and now I can't remember where it came from!  Silly me!  Anyway, I like it.  The sketch is a challenge from Try Stampin' On Tuesday #152.  Very fun!  The Daffodil Delight Washi Tape was too wide so I split it in half before adhering to the cardstock. I don't know if you can see it, but there is Dazzling Details glitter on the sun.  You need a bit of glitter for sunshine.  Again with the bling thing!

Well, I hope your New Year's celebration was fun and the year is going smoothly for you.  Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.  See you soon!

Julie

p.s.  I forgot to link the sketch challenge for Try Stampin' On Tuesday when I posted late last night.  That's fixed now.  Lesson learned:  don't post after 11 p.m.!  :-D