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

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

Happy Birthday with a Valentine Set

This is a card that we made at a workshop in November.  Yes, the stamp set was in the Holiday catalog, so I don't believe it's available right now, but I wanted to show you that you can make fun birthday cards with Valentine sets.  Framelits cut out the two label shapes, we used the Piercing Mats to punch around the inside of the Very Vanilla frame.  The colors are Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple, and Summer Starfruit.  The gate card is easiest to make when you use the Simply Scored and score on the 2 3/4" and 8 1/4" lines.  (I hope I got that right!)  What fun things have you made with your Big Shot and new stamp sets lately? 

And Sale-A-Bration is here!  It starts today.  Click on this link to the details of the sale.  It's a wonderful time to be a hostess and to purchase.  I'm planning on updated a lot of my ink pads and get the extra credit from that sale.  How are you planning on Sale-A-Brating?

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station again. 

Blessings!
Julie

I Love These Three Amigas Challenges!

 My dear friends Sharon, Joanne, and I are having trouble coming up with a day for a stamping playdate, so we decided to go virtual again.  What does that mean?  We each set forth a challenge for each other and have a deadline to submit them by.  I'm barely making this one.  I have two minutes left to upload.  Let's see how fast I can type.  :-D 
This first card is for my challenge.  Something old is the rhinestone brads that we've had in the catty for awhile.  Something new is the DP and the Four Frames stamp set, which are the special for this month.  (They're gorgeous, BTW!)  Something borrowed is the layout.  It's from this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast.  The something blue is quite obviously the DP.  :-)  Yes, I cheated and used the rhinestones from last year's Easter Egg kit.  Sorry!

 And this card is for Sharon's challenge.  She told us to make a quilted card, using this tutorial for instructions.  I, of course, had to go to see what other patterns I could find on the internet.  I found this awesome quilting site to find other patterns to try.  I also found a lot of images on google and found a diamonds pattern that I thought would translate well to paper.  I did use retired DP, just in case I didn't like my first attempt.  I also decided to use my retired brads to match.  After gluing down the DP, I ran the whole thing through the Big Shot with my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The tag punch and Tiny Tags stamp set attached with crochet thread finish it off.

And last, but definitely not least, Joanne challenged us to make an Easter treat holder.  (Mine must contain chocolate, because I don't get enough of that food group.  ;-D )  The background scallop is punched out of Naturals Ivory and then stamped with the Medallion center and Marina Mist ink.  (I was going for a different look than usual.)  The flowers were made with my Boho Blossoms punch and the Itty Bitty punch set.  The leaves are courtesy of the lattice die leftovers.  Yes, I have a problem with keeping all kinds of scraps!  Basic pearls finish off the flowers and the Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon was also a leftover!  Let's hear it for leftovers!  Whoo Hoooo!!!! 

Ok, now it's your turn!  Let's see what you can do with these challenges.  Upload your projects to an online gallery (splitcoaststampers.com or for Stampin' Up only stampinaddicts.com) and then come back here to leave us a link.  We'd love to see your creations!  I promise to leave you a comment, too.

Blessings,
Julie

Bring on the Cake With Pompom Trim

Isn't this a fun card?!  It's a combo of two cards that I found online.  I put the ideas together from this card and this card.  I love this birthday stamp set.  It's so versatile!  Man, woman, child ... stamps that are appropriate for all of them!  The cake is stamped in Pacific Point and colored in with Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, and Old Olive.  I also loved the idea of making balloons out of circle punches.  White Gel Pen was used for the shinies on the balloons and the strings were drawn on with my Pacific Point Stampin' Write marker.  The Designer Paper is from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.  After gluing on the balloons and DP and drawing the strings, the entire piece was run through the Big Shot with the SU! Lattice embossing folder.  I really love that quilted look.
Sale-A-Bration is almost over, people, so quick, make your purchase before you miss out on all of the lovely free items!  You have a week left.  And Bring on the Cake is from the Occasions Mini Catalog, so it's only available through the end of April. 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.  I'd love to hear from you.
Blessings,
Julie

Masculine To the Nines

Do you need more ideas for masculine cards? Well, To the Nines Designer Series Specialty paper is the way to go. I've used it here for the cupcake frosting and the striped panel. the background layer of Sage Shadow was run through the Big Shot with the SU! Perfect Details Texturz Plate. If you want a deeper impression than the plate gives you, spritz your cardstock lightly with water and then run it through on the plate. The cupcake was made with the SU Big Bold Cupcakes Sizzlits. I crimped the cupcake paper and then dragged the edges over the Sage Shadow ink pad.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

CASEing my Blogging Buddy

My blogging buddy Georgeann made this adorable card and I just had to CASE her. (Copy And Share Everything.) Georgeann has beautiful card ideas and you should see her watercoloring!
This is a THO project for Friday night's workshop and I really love it. I didn't have all of the supplies to replicate Georgeann's card exactly, so I made do with my Good Morning Sunshine DSP and the Pacific Point cardstock and ink. That color has been severely neglected by me, so it was definitely time to fix that! I love how simple this was to put together. It's a perfect way to show how a bit of DSP goes a long, long way. The little strip of blue over the DSP is the strip that you get after using the scallop edge punch. Nothing goes to waste, right? :-D Oh, and don't forget that the Stampin' Up! special on Designer Series Papers ends on Sunday. So you want that 4th pack free? Shoot me an email or order online via the catalog button on the right. I'll send you a thank you card if you do place an online order.

Supplies: Always and All Holidays stamp sets; Whisper White & Pacific Point cardstock; Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Paper; Pacific Point Classic Ink; Scallop Edge, Designer Label, and 1" Circle punches; white gel pen.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Father's Day Idea

I've heard of so many people having a hard time figuring out ideas for masculine cards. So bring on the Designer Series Paper! This card was made with To the Nines, a fabulous textured designer paper. I just love how easy it is to create a wonderful card with the Designer Series Papers. With almost no effort at all! On this card, I stamped the tree in Chocolate Chip and the leaves in Sage Shadow, making sure to stamp the leaves two or three times before reinking.
The edges of the Very Vanilla papers are distressed with my Cutter Kit. Happy Father's Day found it's placement after one of my customers dropped this on an ink pad. :-( Oh well...we know that a mistake makes for new possibilities. Which is also what that Sage tree is behind the words. I meant to stamp the tree in Chocolate Chip and stamped in Sage Shadow instead. Well, we can't throw out a good piece of cardstock, now can we? So it became the background for the greeting. Now you know all my secrets to making good mistakes! See my matching hardware? The large eyelet is Pewter and the brads are from the Vintage Brads.
And now you're asking, why is she posting again? That crazy Julie, she already posted once today. Well, I just don't want you to miss out on Stampin' Up!'s fabulous special on Designer Papers. I hope you are beginning to see how much easier a creation is if you have the right Designer Paper to help you along. And to help you see the possibilities, the Blog Hop this weekend will make your DSP possibilities incredible clear!
24 Demonstrators will be posting to their blogs, each with a different pack of Designer Series Papers. I will be stop #3 with To the Nines. I have a pop-up 3-tier cake, a golfer's card, and a 2-page scrapbook layout ready to go. And I'm still coming up with more ideas. You see, there are just so many possibilities with the DSP that the ideas just keep coming and coming.
Do you have it down on your calendar? Go write the blog hop down and make sure you come to visit sometime between Friday 5 am PST and Sunday 11:59 pm PST. Because after that, the links will be broken and you won't be able to make the complete circle through the blogs and papers. Oh, and by the way, you're going to need some DSP after seeing all of the projects, so don't forget to click on that shopping button you see on the right to order your DSP. Now's the time, baby. We're going to have FUN!!
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Blessings,
Julie

Crazy for Cupcakes and Chalked Taffeta Ribbon Technique

Hello! Yes, I haven't been blogging much lately. My boys' schedules are killing me! One in track, one in baseball, and one in T Ball. Ouch!
Well ... enough whining ... on to the card. This is a project for this evening's workshop. The cupcakes are embossed (DON'T forget your embossing buddy!) and then colored with markers. The ribbon is white taffeta in disguise! I wanted pink ribbon, so I chalked up my sponge dauber and rubbed it on the white taffeta, flipped it over and repeated. Isn't that beautiful??? The color scheme was a no brainer, thanks to the Candy Lane DSP. Not having to come up with a color scheme is a real time-saver for me!

Supplies: Crazy for Cupcakes, Embossing Buddy, Black Embossing Powder, Powder Pals trays, Versamark, Heat Tool, White Taffeta Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Eyelet Border Punch, Candy Lane DSP, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette cardstocks.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I'd love to hear from you!

Blessings,
Julie

Little Bluebird and Riding Hood Mother's Day

Here are a couple more cards from last Saturday's workshop. I've been buying some special accessories and made a point to use some of them. This card uses Hidden Garden Rub-Ons, Kiwi/Vanilla Satin ribbon, Button Bouquet, Bella Rose Designer Paper, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White cardstock. The button has a bit of crochet thread tied through the center. The sentiment is from All Holidays and the flowers on the corners of the sentiment are from Eastern Blooms.
This was one of my favorites from Saturday. We sponged Sahara Sand and Baja Breeze on Glossy White cardstock, then stamped the vase and pussy willows in Close to Cocoa. We stamped the vase again on a sheet of Parisian Breeze Designer Paper, cut it out and glued it on. The large white grommet is from the new Occasions Mini Catalog, which is also where you'll find this stamp set, Scene in a Garden. After punching a 1/2" circle in the Baja cardstock, you put the grommet prongs through the hole and bend them back with a bone folder. After gluing the Baja to the background Kraft cardstock, we stamped the little birdie on glossy, colored him in with a blender pen and Baja ink, then punched him out with the 1/2" circle and glued him inside the grommet. For the last touch, we used the White Gel Pen on the pussy willows. Very easy card, yet it looks more involved.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again. I'd love to hear from you!

Blessings,
Julie

This Week's Three Amigas Challenge...Card and Scrapbooking

It was my turn this week to set the challenge. After talking with my upline Sharon about where we want to go with our blogs, I decided on this challenge: to make a card and then a scrapbook page with some of the same elements. Needing a card for Heidi, my last hostess, I made this card and matching Thank You tags. My inspiration was designer paper that we had about a year ago. I was really missing the chocolate and vanilla combo. Sweet and simple. Then it occurred to me that I could slightly recreate this paper by running my vanilla cardstock through the damask SU texture plate and then sponge across the raised pattern with my ink. Yahoo! For the tag and greeting, I first stamped "Thank You" in Chocolate Chip and then put the cardstock through the Big Shot with the texture plate. You have to stamp the greeting first, before putting the texture on, otherwise you will get an inconsistent image on your stamping. The card was finished off with the new Eyelet Border Punch.
So how do you use the same ideas on a scrapbook page? Well, the top and bottom of the texture plate match up. I textured my strips of vanilla on the first 7" and then put the last 4" on at the bottom, exactly where I had placed the first 7". This is easiest if you use the side edge of the texture plate for a placement guide. There is a small seam across at the 7" mark, but I covered it up with the photo frame. I used my embosslit Simple Flower from SU! for the flowers. I sponged ink gently across the vanilla flowers and sanded the raised areas off of the chocolate flowers. (You can do this when you use Designer Paper with a white core for your embosslit.) I used the Swirls Scribbles sizzlit for vanilla and chocolate swirls for accents.
The last part of the challenge was to use an accessory that is new to the catalog and an accessory that is old to the current catalog. For my new accessory, I used the texture plate and the embosslit. For the old accessory, I used the half pearls from my Pretties Kit. I love the way the pearls finish off the flowers. Just a touch for elegance.

Sharon's TAWC

Supplies: Elegant Thank You stamp. Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla cardstocks. Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa classic ink. Bella Rose Designer Paper. Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates, Simple Flower Embosslit, Swirls Scribbles Sizzlit, Wide Oval Punch, Coluzzle, Eyelet Border Punch, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Pretties Kit.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I'd love to hear from you.

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

Scrapbook Page Inspired by a Calendar

Today's Inspiration Challenge was to go to Lang Calendars, choose a calendar, and make a project using that in- spiration. I needed some scrapbook pages for the 45th Anniversary of my parents, so I chose to convert this Calendar image to a scrapbook page. Using some retired Designer Paper, my retired Wild Rose stamp set and some cardstock the colors of the celebration, I created this page. I made a second page the mirror image of this one. I wish that I had that retired Peony set. That would have been stunning. Now, to add the pics.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Easy To Alter Card Layout

Here's a card that we made at a workshop earlier in the catalog year. I really loved the versatility of this card. It could serve for almost anything: birthday, wedding, get well, anniversary, etc. We stamped with Baroque Motifs, put an Ice Rhinestone Brad through the center of the medallion, and used the Kiwi Satin Ribbon behind the medallion. I loved the layout so much, that I wanted repeat it! So I took one of my retiring stamp sets, changed the colors to go with another sheet from the same Designer Series Paper (Urban Garden - isn't it gorgeous paper??!!) and this is what we made.

So this is what it looks like with the Kind Thoughts and Warm Words stamp sets. I love Not Quite Navy, a beatiful and rich color, and paired with the Bashful Blue and Vanilla, it has an elegant, fun look. The Scallop Circle Punch coordinates so well with the center swirl and I LOVE the Ice Rhinestone Brads. We used our paper snips to cut out the butterfly. I hightly recommend these scissors, since they make cutting paper a breeze - way better than the cheap scissors I bought at the local craft store. I'd love to see what you can do with this layout. Post a link here or send me an email with it attached. And thanks for sharing!

Ready for Something Besides Christmas Cards?

I am!!!! Here's a birthday card that I made for my oldest son. I stamped the large cupcake from Crazy for Cupcakes in Basic Black and then colored it in with SU! markers. After coloring everything, I put Crystal Effects on the candy confetti and the candle so that they would have a 3-D look. This Rainbow Sherbet designer paper is sooooooo fun! Add a round tab punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, and oval punch, some paper piercing, and you have a fun and easy card.

Are you a Designer Paper Junkie?? :-)

Are you like me - addicted to Designer Series Papers? I love them, because they make my projects easier, because I don't need to come up with a color combo and the fact that they look so beautiful that I don't have to do much to make the project look gorgeous. So for those of you who have some DSP sitting around, here's a tutorial for you. A sideline of mine in Idaho shared this link with our group. Scroll down to the end and click on the tutorial pic. It's super easy and fun. I've had this hanging on my tree the last two days, but I'm going to use this beautiful snowflake as a present topper. To all you family out there reading my post - who will be the lucky recipient?