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

Nature Sympathy

Do you ever struggle with not wanting to use a traditional sympathy stamp set for a sympathy card?  I do.  Sometimes I get tired of what I have and want to switch it up a little.  So, I found this retired DP in my stash and thought it would make a nice starting point.  I think the Gently Falling set coordinates nicely with it.  And, as always, my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (40 different sentiments!) came in handy to finish off the card.  The woodgrain folder was used on the background piece and some retired grosgrain ribbon and the retired eyelet punch finished it off.  I love it when a card comes together this easily.  I might have to make a few more for a craft fair fundraiser coming up.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Snowy Easel Card

How about this for a fun card?  We made this easel card at the last workshop at the request of the hostess.  She saw one on display and wanted to learn how to make the easel.  We used the glitter window technique (packing tape and Dazzling Diamonds glitter) for the window to see the little girl.  The snowflake was cut with the snowflake decorative strip and the silver glimmer paper.  I have a few of these cut out and ready to go, so some people on my Christmas list might be receiving these.  Hey, it's fair game if it's already cut out, right?

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Workshop Project and Remake

 Last Friday night's workshop was great!  I didn't know how many of the guests had previous stamping experience, so I tried to keep a couple of the projects pretty simple, while throwing in a technique.  This is a remake of the watercoloring with markers project.  I've added the Espresso layer behind the flower and the frame behind the greeting. 

Here's the original workshop project.  I love watercoloring with markers on the watercolor paper.  It looks so wonderful and is so super easy!  What have you made with your watercolor paper lately? 

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Another CAS Birthday

Keeping it sweet and simple ... that's what I like!  And thankfully, this awesome embossing folder is being carried over, even though the Occasions Mini Catalog is no longer available.  Isn't that a fun border for this cake?  The DP is the Paisley Petals from last month's special.  Don't worry ... it was a preview of what's to come in the new Idea Book & Catalog coming out in July.  I used a piece of 1/2" x 6" Cherry Cobbler to punch the Pinking Hearts Border.  The little strip that you're left with was cut up to make the cake stand.  The bottom of the cake stand is the 3/4" x 15/16" oval punch.  The greeting is from my favorite word set, Teeny Tiny Wishes.  After gluing the border to the DP, we used the rounded corner punch to give it a good cake look.  So what CAS cards have you made lately?  I'd love to see them.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Sneak Peek!

This is a great new set that will be available in the Summer Mini Catalog, only a week and a half away!  It's a really cute set called Summer Splash.  Oh yeah!  I already showed you another card made with this set.  Remember the brayered fish?  Anyway, I really like this one.  Had a fun time making the starfish into tags hanging from the hemp twine?  The frame was made with my lattice die.  Cut out the center and the edge pieces and you have this cute frame.  So, what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings to you on this special Easter weekend,
Julie

Baby Blossoms and New DP

 Here's the newest Stampin' Celebration's 48th challenge.  I chose to use the flowers, colors and leaf border.  I was wishing for a hat stamp ... like the one that was on the retired Paris stamp set.  wouldn't that be great for this challenge?  :-) 

And the layout is SAH165 from Stamp-A-Holics.  It's hard to see, but the leaf border was stamped on white and then cut out.  That way I could mount it over the background white and the frame.  The scalloped border is hanging out in Pink Pirouette.  See that gorgeous DP?  It's new!  It's a preview of the new Idea Book & Catalog and is available this month with a $20 purchase.  Though it's hard to see, I did use some pearls on the greeting just to give it a touch of class.  I sure love those things! 

Hey, that's two posts in one day!  I guess that let's me off the hook for tomorrow?  ;-)  Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Another Challenge Complete!

Two challenges in one!  The first challenge was to get this uploaded, edited and published on my husband's laptop, instead of my own!  (My new laptop had a bad hard drive and Blu-Ray player, so had to go in for some repairs :(  )  I'm seriously missing my photo editing program!  And I don't have my copyright image on this computer, so pretend that you see a copyright by Stampin' Up! on this photo, k?  The second challenge was the colors.  It's from Stampin' Addicts' SACC85 to use Pacific Point, Garden Green, Rich Razzleberry and Basic Gray.  Two of my friends sent me a link to this cross image, made from the lattice die, so of course I had to try it!  Isn't it beautiful?  The Easter Wishes was stamped on the scallop square punch, but I sent the square through the punch a second time to punch off the first layer of scallops.  The little flowers are from the Tiny Tags stamp set and the greeting is from All Holidays.  The back layer of the greeting was cut with a Lots of Tags sizzlit and finished off with some Basic Pearls.  (I'm on my third package of those already!  That's how much I love them.)  The background is the Sanded BG stamp. 
Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.  I hope you have a fun weekend planned.
Blessings,
Julie

Cupcake Creations...Oh Wait! It's a Popcorn Bowl!

 Ok, this is a total CASE of my blogging buddy Carrie, but I had to do it!  It was way too cute to resist.  I changed her card just a little, so that I could use my Pawsitively Prints DSP and so that it would be appropriate for a 14 year old boy, but the design is hers.  Thanks, Carrie!  See this post to view her original card. 

Create-A-Cupcake, Teeny Tiny Wishes, and Crazy for Cupcakes stamp sets, Cupcake Punch, Itty Bitty Trio Punches, Sponge, Word Window, Rounded Tab, Petal Card, and Modern Label punches, Pawsitively Prints DSP, Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise, and Daffodil Delight ink, Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Pacific Point, and Whisper White cardstock.

You can see that I made a little pocket on the inside piece that slides out.  That's for the cash that all teenagers seem to want these days.  :-)  My son wrote on the card instead of me stamping something, because I had to quit.  It was past time to start making dinner.  I don't like it when my normal Cinderella duties get in the way of my crafting, but there you have it! 

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

I'm Sorry Daisy

I went over to stampinaddicts.com to play in some challenges.  This card incorporates the SACC78 and SASC79.  Which means that the colors were Pear/Kiwi, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, and Basic Black.  I've been wanting to use my daisy Bigz Die for awhile, so this is it.  Very fun and quite simple to make.  I also used my new Tulips Frame embossing folder from the Occasions Mini.  Isn't it a beautiful pattern?

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Valentine With Christmas Colors

Need some fresh ideas for Christmas and Valentines?  This card could go either way.  Sometimes I get so sick of Valentine cards and Christmas cards that only use traditional colors, so I switched it up a bit.  And the stamp set used here is a wedding set!  So now that we've combined 3 occasions, I kind of like it.  :-)   The background is Teahouse with River Rock ink on River Rock cardstock.  I really like the subtle pattern that this creates.  And have I mentioned lately how much I love our adhesive pearls and rhinestones??  Love 'em!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Have a blessed Christmas,
Julie

The Hard Disk Is Reformatted....

Yes, the hard drive was reformatted and I'm almost done reloading all of the programs. Wow, what a job! Thankfully, I heard the hard drive working really had and bought an external hard drive before it went kaput. And so, here we are, finally posting a couple of workshop projects. This first project uses the new Sweet Scoops stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog. I was quite afraid that it was too simple and the guests would be bored with it, but they really loved the simplicity of it! We used the kissing technique on the ice cream (bashful blue and ballet blue) and stamped the sentiment across the pumpkin strip. The DSP is the Build-A-Bear set. I really like it! We cut out the ice cream and popped it up on dimensionals.
This card was one of my favorites. We're going to make it at the next workshop as a Father's Day card. We used a Post it note to punch out a circle and sponge around for the sun. The sand was made with Itty Bitty Backgrounds and sponging. The inside of the card was the same scene as the main image, just enlarged. Fun! This card uses the new Tropical Party stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog. Can you tell by the number of times that I've used this stamp set that I love it?!
Ok, back to taking care of the family. The laundry just doesn't fold itself and the folding fairy has skipped over our house again. Bummer!
Well, thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. Hugs to you all!

Blessings,
Julie

New Swaps....I Love It!

I've joined a new swap group that I'm SUPER excited about! First of all, I love to swap and get new ideas to show my stamping friends. Second, this is with some of my blogging buddies and some sidelines of mine. I have received a couple back so far. I promise to show you what I've received when I get them. In fact, I can hardly wait to show you!


This is the first card that I sent in for the swap. The theme was Spring. I don't usually use oranges (as I think I've shared with you before...) but adding the Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, and Always Artichoke definitely helped me with the Pumpkin Pie. I just love that little frog on the A Flower For All Seasons stamp. Some of this was colored with and Aqua Painter and ink from the lids of the ink pads and some of the image is colored straight with my Stampin' Write Markers. The "hello" tag was made with my Tiny Tags stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. All of the layers on the main image are lifted up with dimensionals. It's such a fun effect...I love the way it lifts up the image from the card.


I had a lot of fun with this card. I'm not much of a pink person either. Not unless the pink has some personality, that is. Well, I love this Sending Love Specialty DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog. The sparkle really gets me every time! :-) The beautiful satin ribbon is also from the Occasions Mini. The layout is based on a card that I saw on my wonderful friend Joanne's website Sleepy In Seattle. Since we had a Spring theme, I used the gorgeous Greenhouse Garden stamp set. The flowers in the background are stamped off so that they look faded and provide an appropriate background look. The main flower was stamped in Pretty in Pink and the flower veins were stamped in Cameo Coral. I then used my Crystal Effects to draw the veins and sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter for a 3-D glitter effect that matches the DSP. See those cute little rhinestones? They're from our Eggcellent Eggs decorating kit in the Occasions Mini. Love it!

Ok, that's enough blathering for today. Thanks again for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Happy Thanksgiving Wishes

Here's my special Thanks- giving card to you, my blog friends. I hope you have a wonderful time with friends/family. I hope you remember all of the little things, besides the big things, that you have to be thankful for. I hope God sends you a special blessing on Thanksgiving Day...just because!
I'm thankful for my wonderful family, friends, stamping, books, a roof over my head, a full pantry, hugs, coffee, and blogging buddies. I love the creativity that we share through the internet.

Thanks for being my friends.

Blessings,
Julie

Recipe: Autumn Harvest & Teeny Tiny Wishes, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke and Really Rust cardstocks, Always Artichoke 1/4" grosgrain, Linen Thread, SU Markers, Ticket Corner Punch.

Razzleberry and Curry Thank You

Have you seen this gorgeous stamp set in the new Idea Book & Catalog? It's called Greenhouse Garden and it's GORGEOUS!!!!! I just love the look of 2-step stamping and this set takes it to new heights. Look at the detail on those beautiful flowers.
This card was made as a thank you to the demonstrators who participated in a swap that I just hosted. I wanted to give them something special for making a lot of swaps, so this is what I came up with. The bottom border was made with the Eyelet Border Punch. The DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade. Colors for the flowers are Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Rich Razzleberry.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Christmas Glitter

Who doesn't love a present wrapped up all glittery and pretty?! This was going to be for a shoebox swap that I'm participating in on Sunday, but I decided against it. They probably wouldn't like me very well for making them doodle on the greeting. KWIM?
For this card, I used the Night and Day DSP and Real Red. After adhering the 5/8" Grosgrain to the layers, I put sticky strip across the ribbons and pressed it down on my black Chunky Glitter. The medallion was made with my Sweet Season stamp set, a couple of punches, and a red Rhinestone Brad.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Cherries Jubilee

I played a challenge this weekend. We were to go to Lamadesigns.com, choose something that inspires us and make a project using that inspiration. I chose this beautiful and cheery Cherry Apron as my inspiration. The DSP is from the Christmas Cocoa set. I stamped the cherries in red on it, so that it would blend. One row of eyelet border is crimped. I used the large polka dot texture plate for the background white, stamped off for the lighter cherry images, popped up the focal cherries and spread some Crystal Effects on them to make the cherries shiny. The mat for the greeting was cut with my Movers & Shapers modern label die. The greeting itself was punched out with the Modern Label Punch.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again. Hope to see you back soon. If there are any stamp sets or techniques that you would like to see me use, please leave a comment here and I'll do what I can.

Blessings,
Julie

CAS (Clean and Simple) Cards

CAS, Clean And Simple, with large open spaces and not a lot of fuss. It's getting harder and harder for me to follow these guidelines, but I always stick to at least one mat under almost every layer and at least one embellishment. Those two rules can really make the difference on your card. Here, I stamped the adorable stocking from Yuletide Christmas (from the Mini Catalog) in StazOn Black and colored it in with markers. The red stocking was colored in with Ruby Red and then the accents were highlighted with Bravo Burgundy.

Can you see the defect on this card? Up in the right, next to the bear, there's a smudge of red. I hate to re-stamp something when it's a perfectly good image, so I used my Color Spritzer and my Ruby Red and Old Olive markers to splotch color on the background. "Now you see it, now you don't." So, there's my tip for the day. Don't throw your image away, spritz some color onto the background.

To finish the card off, I matted the stocking on Old Olive, stamped "merry christmas" in Ruby Red onto Confetti White cardstock, attached the Always Artichoke 1/4" Grosgrain around the back, and matted again on Old Olive. Sweet and simple.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.

Blessings,
Julie

Thanks for Voting!

Thank you for voting for my convention swaps! It was a great help. (And I'm really glad that no one voted for the "neither" option!) Since the voting was twice as many for the blue as for the blush, I made twice as many blue as blush! :-D
This is a card that I made for my niece. She turned 10 a couple of days ago. I was trying to figure out what flower would look good with this retired DSP Confetti. I think this flower from So Much did a reasonable job. The balloon was made with my SU! glitter and my 2-Way Glue Pen. I cut it out for smooth lines and mounted it on the stamped image. The happy birthday sentiment is from the new stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes. I really love this word set! It really covers pretty much all occasions that you would want a card for and it fits nicely in the word window and modern label punches.
This is a card for my BIL and SIL. Wedding sweet is stamped in the background with Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand C/S. Happy Anniversary is again from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. The DSP Sweet Slumber is retired, but I really love it! The ribbon is 1/4" Artichoke Grosgrain. The DSP was cut out with the Top Note Bigz Die and the layer behind the sentiment was cut out with my add on kit for the Movers and Shakers XL Die. A bow in white Organza and a mini glue dot to adhere it finishes off this simple, yet interesting card.

Thanks again for stopping by the Stamping Station. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Blessings,
Julie

Sneak Peek

Brown came by and brought some of my new things from the upcoming Idea Book & Catalog. Yahoo!!! I just love new stampin' stuff! The new in colors are really rich. I'm loving these three here. The background color is Rich Razzleberry, the flowers are Melon Mambo (now isn't that a stinkin' cute name?!) and the ribbon and stems are Bermuda Bay. My niece graduated from high school last Friday, so it was the perfect excuse to get my new supplies out and STAMP. I used the Flourish Texturz Plate from SU! and the Movers & Shapers Bigz XL Die for the body of the card. The DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade. I stamped the flowers and popped them up on dimensionals.
I don't have the new punch yet that coordinates with this movers & shapers die, so I used my word window. The greeting is from the new set Teeny Tiny Wishes. Just wait until you see all of the wonderful greetings in this set...you'll be blown away by all of the events that this set covers. I needed a pocket for the cash (no, it's not there in the pic because I didn't want you to know how much we gave) so I stamped a 2" tall piece of Bermuda and then attached it with Sticky Strip on 3 sides. It worked perfectly with the cash folded in half. The verse on the inside is from a retired set called In My Thoughts and the flowers are Flower Fancy. Some square Rhinestone Brads finish it off.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek. Let me know what you think of these new products.

Blessings,
Julie