Anniversary Card

Just a quick post for tonight. I made this card a couple of months ago for my grandparent's anniversary. I completely took the design from page 6 of the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. I just loved it so much I had to try my own version... I just changed some of the colors up. By the way, the outside two squares are done using bleach on the stamps.

I can't wait for the new catalog to come out... I'm looking forward to the great new stamps and papers! Don't forget about our great sneak peek you can get of the new catalog... the Love You Much bundle! Just send me an e-mail if you would like to order it.

Supplies:
Pocket Silhouettes stamp set
Hugs & Wishes stamp set
Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke, and Going Gray card stock
Chocolate Chip Classic ink
Curly Label punch
Always Artichoke 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Library Clips
SNAIL and Stampin' Dimensionals
Bleach

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas (one day late)! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that no one else was dealing with a vomiting toddler like I was. Unfortunately, Keila developed a stomach bug around 5:30 yesterday morning. We were hoping it was a fluke thing when she threw up at 5:30, but soon found out it wasn't. The will of a toddler is strong - she would throw up, then go back to open more presents; but you could tell that she wasn't as excited about everything as she would have been if she hadn't been sick. It was hard for me to deal with because this was her first Christmas she really understood the concept of Santa Claus - so it was a bummer not to have my non-sick little girl Christmas morning and not see all the excitement I knew she could have.

Anyway, I thought it was appropriate to put up our Christmas/Holiday card for this year as my Christmas post. I wanted to incorporate a photo of our kids this year, but still wanted to make our cards rather than going the photo card route. In past years we've included photos in our family letter - but I am always "iffy" about those letters. Don't get me wrong, they are great to hear what is going on in the lives of family and friends, but sometimes (not always) they can tend to the side of bragging. So, I looked for a different way to incorporate the kids' photo. I had originally thought I would use the Hostess set Window Dressing and have the kids looking out through the window, but I couldn't get that to turn out in any way I was happy with. So, then I turned to one of the layouts I'd been using for a couple of cards recently. I'm really happy with how the card turned out and using the Curly Label Punch for the photo of the kids.

A few reminders before I end with the supply list for the card: 1) Don't forget to check the retired stamp list to make sure you get your favorites before they are gone. The retiring accessories list comes out January 5th, so be on the look out for that. (Matey's Map Jumbo Wheel is a great candidate for that list!) 2) You still have one more week to order the Country Living Holiday set! This pack is awesome! I just make a TON of tags for my gifts with the die cut items in this kit and still have a bunch left over. 3) Check out the new Valentine's Day promotion that is going on now, until January 31st! There is a great bundle being offered that includes a brand new Valentine's Day stamp set called Love You Much, a pack of beautiful Candy Lane Designer Series Paper, and an adorable new trio heart punch! All of these are also sneak peeks from the new catalog that is being released January 19th. One note: the Candy Lane DSP is currently back-ordered. Due to this back-order, you are currently not able to order this bundle on-line. If you would like to order this bundle pack, please e-mail me (memoriesbyvanda@gmail.com) and I can order it for you. I will let you know as soon as the DSP is back in stock and you can order the bundle on-line.

Card Supplies:
Scandinavian Season stamp set (Holiday Mini)
Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and Perfect Plum & Mellow Moss regular & textured card stock (in order to limit the supplies I had to buy to make 100 cards I made half of the cards with textured PP and regular MM and the other half had regular PP and textured MM.)
Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, and Baja Breeze Classic Stampin' Pads
Ski Slope Designer Series Paper (Holiday Mini)
Alpine Ribbon (Holiday Mini)
Curly Label Punch
Cutter Kit (distressor tool)
SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

In Celebration of the Retired Stamp List...

In honor of the retiring stamp list being announced (see link to the left) I thought I'd show you this card I made as a mock-up for some good friends of ours. They had an adorable baby boy at the beginning of September and asked me to make their baby announcements. I used the scrapbook page that is on page 68 of the 2008 Spring/Summer catalog as inspiration. This set uses the Bundled in Joy set that will retire on January 18, 2009. By the way, the picture I used in this mock up is my own little boy who will be TWO next month! Time flies!!

Supplies:
Bundled in Joy stamp set
Whisper White and Bashful Blue card stock
Barely Banana textured card stock
Certainly Celery Prints DSP
Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana and Basic Black Stampin' Write Markers
Dotted Lines Stampin' Around jumbo wheel
Tag and 3/16" Corner Rounder punches
Bashful Blue Stampin' Around jumbo cartridge
Metallic Eyelets
Light Blue Gingham Ribbon
Linen Thread
Crop-a-dial
Paper Snips
Paper Piercer
Stampin' Dimensionals

November Club Meeting & the BIG SHOT

For my November club meeting, we played around with the awesome new Big Shot by Stampin' Up! and Sizzix. I take no credit at all for the portfolio design that held the cards - that design came from another great demonstrator named Andrea Wolford (a link to her blog is on the left). I did design the 4 cards that went in the portfolio, however. The beginning of my card designs came from the "Join in the Cheer" Decorative Strip Die. I thought it would be neat to separate the 4 words and create four different cards with those words. Then I also used the Scallop Envelope and Top Note Bigz Dies. The new Big Shot is so much fun to use! If you are interested in finding out more about the Big Shot or ordering the supplies for the Big Shot or these cards, just contact me. You can also order on-line through my Stampin' Up! web site. The link to this site is on the left of this page.

Supplies for each card:
Cheer card - Scandinavian Season stamp set; Kraft, Textured Chocolate Chip, and Textured Riding Hood Red card stock; Baja Breeze and Old Olive Classic Ink Pad; Little Felt Flurries; Silver Elastic Cord, Baja Breeze 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon; Earth Elements & Neutrals Buttons; Paper Piercer; Top Note Bigz Die and Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip Die.
Joy card - Scandinavian Season stamp set; Whisper White, Chocolate Chip & Textured Riding Hood Red card stock; Autumn Vine DSP; Old Olive and Riding Hood Red Classic Ink Pad; Season of Cheer Rub-Ons; Silver Elastic Cord; Pewter Build-a-Brad; Little Felt Flurries; Earth Elements Buttons; sponges; Top Note Bigz Die and Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip Die
Love card - Scandinavian Season stamp set; Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, and Textured Riding Hood Red card stock; Baja Breeze Classic Ink Pad; Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker; Season of Cheer Rub-ons; Baja Breeze 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon; Pewter Jumbo Eyelets; Vintage Brads; Little Felt Flurries; Scallop Edge punch; Paper Piercer; Crop-a-dial; Scallop Envelope Bigz Die and Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip Die
Peace card - Scandinavian Season stamp set; Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Textured Chocolate Chip, and Textured Riding Hood Red card stock; Autumn Vine DSP; Baja Breeze Classic Ink Pad; Season of Cheer Rub-ons; Silver Elastic Cord, Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon; Pewter Build-a-Brad; Silver Brads; Library Clips; Little Felt Flurries; Top Note Bigz Die and Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip Die; Paper Snips; Stampin' Dimensionals

Another Birthday Idea

I realized it had been a while since I had last posted. It is amazing how quickly time flies! We went to my sister-in-law's baby shower over the weekend and had a great time. I still have to scan or take a picture of the card I made for her, so I'll have to post that another time. For my post tonight I have a card that I made for the daughter of one of my best friends (and my downline) Jen. Katie (her daughter) actually shares my birthday and is only a couple of months older than my son. She just turned two at the end of October and we were invited to join in on her family birthday celebration. We had a great time - it was Elmo themed and adorable (see Jen's blog on the left for pictures of her Elmo themed birthday stuff). The card I made used the Party Hearty set that was part of the birthday promotion last month. The one cool technique that I used for this card was coloring in the brad from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware set. I saw this technique demonstrated at Convention. It is so simple - you just take your brad with the designs in it and smush it into a craft ink of your choice. Just take a paper towel and gently wipe off the top of the brad. This leaves the ink in the design. You'll probably want to repeat this step a couple of times to ensure a good color. Also note that it will take a while for the brad to dry - you'll probably want to let it set overnight.

Card Supplies:
Party Hearty stamp set
Pale Plum textured card stock
Pale Plum and Very Vanilla card stock
Sweet Always Designer Series Paper
Stampin' Write markers (Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Summer Sun, Rose Red)
Pale Plum Craft Ink
Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware
Cutter Kit
Stampin' Dimensionals

October Club Meeting

I have a great club that meets once a month. We get together, have some fun, do a few projects and best of all, rotate who is the hostess each month! For this month's club meeting I designed two cards and one 3-D project. There was one Halloween card and one Thanksgiving card. The 3-D project was a glass jar decorated with Decor Elements. I don't have a photo of the jar right now but I'll add it to this post once I get a chance to take a picture.

The first card is a suspension card using one of my favorite Halloween sets: Batty for You. It also uses the new Halloween set in the Holiday Mini called Halloween Frights. I got the directions and general layout for the card from Beate Jones' tutorial on splitcoaststampers.com. I also used the Ghostly Greetings DSP for this card - a DSP which is growing on me. I wasn't sure about it at first - I had loved last year's Halloween DSP; but the more I use it, the more I love it! It is a little hard to tell that it is a suspension card, but if you look closely at the cat on the circle, you can see the dental floss used to make it a suspension. The one thing you can't see from the picture is the other side of the suspension piece. I used a Pumpkin Pie textured larger circle, Basic Black medium sized circle, and a Whisper White smaller circle with the pumpkin from Halloween Frights in Pumpkin Pie ink.

Supplies (Halloween card):
Batty for You set
Halloween Frights set
Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie textured, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, and Summer Sun Classic Ink
Ghostly Greetings DSP
Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
1-3/8", 1-1/4", 1", and 3/4" Circle Punches
Dental Floss

The second card used the Autumn Harvest stamp set that is in the new catalog. This stamp set was originally in last year's Holiday Mini catalog, and I was so happy to see it was kept and transferred into the new catalog. I created this layout when I was working on some swap cards from this year's Holiday Mini catalog. I really like it and I am considering using this layout for my Christmas/Holiday cards this year. I always wind up making my Holiday cards more difficult than I should considering the number of cards I make. I think this layout is pretty straight forward and could work well. I'll have to play around with it more! Anyway, back to this card... I used blender pens and the Stampin' Pastels to shade in the pumpkins. The DSP is the set that is exclusively in the Hispanic Catalog: celebrando creatividad. The DSP is called Juntos and I love the fall colors in it.

Supplies (Thanksgiving card)
Autumn Harvest set
Cute & Curly set
Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust textured, and Very Vanilla card stock
Chocolate Chip, More Mustard and Really Rust Classic Ink
Juntos DSP
Curly Label Punch
Chocolate Chip 1" Double-stitched Ribbon
Cutter Kit

Keila's Third Birthday

At the end of September was my daughter's third birthday. We had a little party for her at home for family and friends. I think her favorite part of the party was the bouncy house we rented for the back yard! She had a blast jumping around - it was difficult to get her to come out of there for her cake! I came up with the theme of butterflies for her birthday thanks to an awesome cake pan I found at Target. It was a butterfly, but was molded so that it came apart easily in cupcake form. So here you see the birthday invitation that I made for her party. I used the new Flight of the Butterfly set that I received for free at Convention 08. I used the brayer technique by stamping the butterfly outline in the black Staz On ink on glossy white paper. Once that dried (about 30 seconds), I stamped the butterfly solid stamp in VersaMark ink and covered it with clear embossing powder. After embossing the butterfly, I used a brayer for the color. I put two ink pads side by side (I think I used Pretty in Pink and Rose Red) and ran the brayer over them to soak up some ink. I then inked the glossy white paper moving the brayer slightly side to side in order to make the colors fade in to each other. Finally, I used a paper towl to wipe the color off of the embossed butterfly so that it would show up white. With a finishing touch of paper piercing the butterfly's flight path, I was done with that image. Also, for the ribbon, I used a technique that Shelli (the co-founder of Stampin' Up!) showed us at Convention 08. You take some of the taffetta ribbon (in this case I used the new Riding Hood Red) and get the thread that is along the side of the ribbon. Once you are able to pick that out, you just "scrunch" the ribbon up along that thread. I know that is really hard to understand using just words, but hopefully you will be able to figure it out with the help of the picture.

Supplies (Birthday Card):
Flight of the Butterfly set
Upsy Daisy set
Glossy White, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip card stock
Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Black Staz On Ink
Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
Riding Hood Red Taffetta Ribbon

Next for you to see is the Thank You card I did for her gifts. When I saw this stamp in the new catalog, I fell in love with it - I think it is adorable! I knew I wanted to use it for the kids' birthday cards. Now that I've used it once though, I really don't know how else I would use this set! I know I can make the icing different "flavors" and I suppose I can use markers to not ink the words... but let me know if any of you have other great ideas! For this card I inked the cupcake on three different colors... Creamy Caramel card stock in Chocolate Chip ink, Rose Red textured card stock in Rose Red ink, and Whisper White card stock in Chocolate Chip ink. I layered cut out the cupcake in the Creamy Caramel and that was my base. I cut out just the "icing" in the Rose Red and layered that. Finally for the cherry, I used Crystal Effects and glitter. I used the brads for the extra on the icing. (Got that idea from the catalog.) Enjoy!

Supplies (Birthday Thank You)
Simple Birthday Thanks set
Confetti White, Creamy Caramel, Rose Red textured, and Whisper White card stock
Chocolate Chip and Rose Red Classic Ink
Soft Subtles Brads
Crystal Effects
Fine Cosmo Glitter
Stampin' Dimensionals

Out for a week

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I'll be out for a week in DC, so I won't be able to post anything until Friday or so. I meant to get some projects up last night, but just got wrapped up in my school work. Hope everyone has a good week - and make sure to check out the awesome class I'm doing this weekend. Make sure to send me an e-mail if you can make it. I will be able to check e-mail in DC!

Welcome Baby Card

OK, I do have to admit that I use some retired paper, colors, and ribbon in this card. But I was so happy with it I still wanted to share!

It seems that this is the time of year for new babies! I have friends, family, and co-workers who are having new little ones join the world almost every other week. This is a card that I made for some friends of ours who just had an adorable little boy (who we will finally get to meet in two weeks). I had also made their baby announcements for them using the Bundled in Joy stamp set so I decided to keep that theme in their Welcome Baby card. I got the general template (it is a gift card holder) from one of my upline's monthly shoebox swaps. Hope you enjoy!

Supplies:
Bundled in Joy stamp set
Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, and Wild Wasabi card stock (all retired) Whisper White card stock
Basic Gray Classic Ink
Aqua Painters
Scallop Circle Punch
1/2" Circle Punch
Scallop Edge Punch
Blue Bayou DSP Prints (retired)
Build-a-Brad Antique Brass
A Perfect Day Rub-ons
Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon (retired)

Shelli's Halloween Challenge

Shelli (the co-founder of Stampin' Up!) has a challenge each month on her blog (the link is in my list of blogs at the left). This month is a Halloween challenge! At first I wasn't so sure about the new Halloween Designer Series Paper when I saw the new catalog... but now I love it! I decided to take a break tonight from the other stuff I was doing to play with the new Halloween Frights stamp set in the Holiday Mini Catalog, the Ghostly Greetings DSP and the adorable Chills & Thrills rub-ons. I'm really happy with what I have come up with so far - and decided to enter them into Shelli's challenge. The card that is oriented up and down rather than across (does that make sense) is a card I modified from a picture. I have no idea where the picture came from (I found it in some old sheets of mine) but wanted to say that the layout came from another wonderful Stampin' Up! demonstrator. The other two cards are designed by me. (Shameless patting on the back.) Let me know what you think!

Supplies (combined for all 3 cards):
Halloween Frights stamp set (Holiday Mini)
Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, and Summer Sun Classic Stampin' Pad
Ghostly Greetings DSP
Chills & Thrills Rub-ons
Ticket Corner, 1-1/4" Square, and Scallop Circle punch
Whisper White, Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon
Silver Elastic Cord
Clear Buttons

Ronald McDonald House Charities Stamp Set

One of the great things about Stampin' Up! is the fact that they are also committed to making a difference in people's lives. Stampin' Up! has partnered with the Ronald McDonald House Charities and not only do many demonstrators donate their time, but there is also a stamp set that is part of making the difference. For every purchase of the Say It with Scallops stamp set on pg. 125 of the Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog, Stampin' Up! will donate $2.00 to the RMHC.

I made the card shown here as a thank you for one of my customers. I used the Say It with Scallops set, the awesome new 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, and the new Filigree Designer Brads. I was really happy with how it turned out.

Supplies:
Say It with Scallops stamp set
Not Quite Navy and Whisper White card stock
Old Olive Classic Ink
Scallop Square and Scallop Edge Punch
Filigree Designer Brads
Bashful Blue 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
Flower Fusion Accents & Elements
On Board Something Seasonal
Maine Blueberry Designer Series Paper

Free and the Brave Card

This is a card that was one of my swaps for Convention 2008. I love this set and was really happy with how this card turned out. I used the Stampin' Write markers to color the soldier stamp. First I colored the flag and stamped it on a scratch sheet of paper. Next I colored the soldier and stamped it on my cardstock. Most of the time that worked so that the flag was lighter than the soldier.

Supplies:
Free and the Brave Stamp set (currently on the dormant list)
Take Three Stamp set (for the "Thinking of You")
Always Artichoke, Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Whisper White card stock
Always Artichoke, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, and Basic Black Stampin' Write markers
Word Window Punch
Basic Eyelets (unfortunately these are retired, but I've also done this card just using silver eyelets and it looks great too!)
Basic Black 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon