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