Saying My Goodbyes

No, I'm not quitting and going away. Yes, it's time to say goodbye to some of my favorite stamp sets. I had taken these pics a few days ago, but had camera trouble. Wish I could have uploaded and posted these earlier. I'll try to make up for it in the next couple of days. This first card is a CASE of this card. We made this at the last two workshops. I really liked the card, so didn't change much. See that cute window in the card? That was made by my new Movers & Shapers Die. I love this thing! You can move the curly label almost anywhere on the front of the card - even the center where a regular punch won't reach. And in the new catalog, there are 4 more shapes for the Movers and Shapers Die that coordinate with the fabulous SU! punches.
This next card is also a CASE of this card. I had to change the color to Pink Pirouette since we had to say goodbye to that color too. We used the SU! Damask Texturz Plate for the pink cardstock.







And a roll on the Baroque wheel on the inside finishes it off. You can see the texture on the pink here. I cut the white for the inside smaller so that when the card is closed, you see pink through the eyelet border on the front.







Here's another card that was inspired by someone else. This did morph into "my own" card, but I was glad for the inspiration. Here's the original idea. As you can see, the colors and a bit of the layout was changed. I'm going to be keeping this stamp set. It's just too easy to use.





See how easy it is to make an elegant card with it? And we decorated the inside also.










Well, that's all I have for this post. I hope you'll come back again and visit the Stamping Station. Let me know what you've been able to create with these beautiful stamp sets. I'd love to see your creations.

Blessings,
Julie

2 Retiring Stamp Sets and 3 Challenges All In One

Yes, you read it correctly. It's time to say goodbye to some stamp sets and accessories. Click here to see the retiring stamp sets, decor elements, and accessories.

I'll be very sad to say goodbye to these two stamp sets. Say It With Scallops was the Ronald McDonald House stamp set for this year. I totally love it. I think it's the best set for RMH that we've ever had. And Beautiful Borders is such an amazing set. It has beautiful border images and wonderful sentiments. I will greatly miss these two.



I've combined 3 challenges for this card. The first two challenges are from Stampin' Addicts (SA). I love this site because it's SUO, which mean Stampin' Up! Only. Handy, when you're looking for ideas for your new stamp sets. It's a fairly young website, so feel free to add to their galleries. I used Sketch Challenge 14 and Accessories Challenge 6.3, linked for your convenience. The color combo is from Splitcoaststampers (SCS). This is another website that I frequent. You can click on the SU! galleries to find some ideas for the stamp sets that you own. Today's Clean and Simple challenge on SCS was to use Kraft, Pink/Coral, and one coordinating color of our choice. I wanted to do a quick card, so punched out designer paper squares and white. It went really fast! The small strip of white at the bottom is the leftover from the eyelet punch. I just can't throw that away. It's a perfect, small strip. I popped the scallop square up on dimensionals and then popped up the "for you" sentiment on dimensionals also. The other thing on this card that I'm not ready to say goodbye to is the Riding Hood Red Taffeta. I've gone through multiple spools of this ribbon. Gorgeous! And it also coordinates well with Ruby Red, so if you like it, grab a spool before they're gone.

Supplies: Beautiful Borders & Say It With Scallops stamp sets. Kraft, Whisper White, and Riding Hood Red cardstocks. Bella Rose DSP. Pink Pirouette Classic Ink. Eyelet Border, 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and Scallop Square Punches. Riding Hood Red Taffeta & Mini Glue Dots.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I'm so glad you came to visit. Until next time!

Blessings,
Julie

Fifth Avenue Florals

I just love water- coloring these flowers from Fifth Avenue Floral. They're such gorgeous images and look so great with watercoloring. Of course, you don't HAVE to color them. They look great as an outline image also. This little notebook is something that I've wanted to do for awhile. I had some extra lilies from watercoloring a few days ago. I used my round tab punch to make two sections: color combinations and sketches. The spiral punch allowed me to completely cover the front of the notebook. Isn't that cool??!! This way I can have the notebook along with me, write down ideas and not lose them because they're on a scrap piece of paper. I don't know about you, but looking through magazines while waiting for an appointment is prime time for finding inspiration.
This is a special thank you to a special lady who gives of her time so freely to our school. We love her dearly and want her to know that. This card had to be special to convey that thought, so I used more watercolored flowers and my Damask texture plate. The thank you is from Beautiful Borders, a lovely set.
So, do I have you convinced yet about his technique? Want to hold a workshop so that you can learn this one? Give me a shout out. I still have a spot left in June, which would be taking advantage of the "Last Call" list before a huge number of stamp sets retire. Or July, when the new catalog is out and everyone wants to see it.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Hostess Thanks

Here's a card that I made for last week's hostess. I sent this card plus some tags for the bags. I don't usually send the tags, but was really in the mood to do this. I tried my best to make a perfect triangle with the eyelet border punch. I think this came out pretty good for my first attempt. The Fifth Avenue Flowers are stamped in Lavender Lace and Almost Amethyst (I love that combo!) and the thank you has the rose stamped in Amethyst behind the Lavender words. I used a bit of my retired narrow organdy to finish this off. The tags that were inside matched the color and stamp theme. Very fun to make!
Supplies: Fifth Avenue Florals and Beautiful Borders stamp sets. Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, and Lavender Lace cardstocks. Eyelet Border Punch, Oval and Large Oval Punches.
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

New Texture Plate

Stampin' Up! has texture plates in the new catalog! While this isn't one of them (because I have to wait until Feb. 1st to place my next order ...bummer!) it's an example of what you can do with them. Just put your cardstock through the Big Shot with the texture plate and out comes a beautifully patterned card. This is a sympathy card for some friends of ours that just lost their mom to cancer. On the smaller silk flower, I colored a bit with my amethyst marker and then spread the color a bit with my aquapainter. Gives it a nice soft look. The flowers and half pearl (both from the Pretties Kit) are held in place with mini glue dots. I send the wide oval punched celery through the Big Shot with the texture plate, stamped "with sympathy" from the Beautiful Borders stamp set on white and punched it out with the large oval.
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.
Blessings,
Julie