Sunday, September 30, 2007

Happy Fall!

Okay, it's time for some new cards! I've had a very busy week... lots of stamping and lots of other things going on... Yesterday, I got together with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators and we had so much fun. There were 14 women together in one room with stamps, ink, card stock and chocolate - it doesn't get much better than that!
So, I thought I would share a couple of our make and take cards and one of the swap cards that I received with you tonight. The "Happy Thanksgiving" card was designed by Melanie. I'm now in love with the Sanded background stamp that she used on this card. The colours on this card are great - Wild Wasabi, Really Rust and Close to Cocoa.

Sonia designed these next two cards. The first one was part of our techniques swap - she used the Waxed Paper Resist technique on the top of this card. Interesting how similar but yet how different Sonia's and Melanie's cards are! This is a fun Halloween card! The stamp is from the Batty for You set and the designer paper is from the Creepy Crawly package.


And, one more from Sonia... This one was a make and take and I could have done a much better job of stamping it! But I wanted to share it with you anyways because there is a very brilliant idea on it. Look at the faux stitching around the edges of the card stock... this was stamped on with a stamp from the All in a Row set. Isn't this a great idea? I wish I had managed to stamp it on a bit better - Sonia's sample looked much better, but I'm sure that with a bit of practice, this would get much easier!

I'll be sharing some more of the great cards from this weekend during the week... check back!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Last day of Fall Frenzy!


This is just a quick post this morning, but I will be back later today with lots of exciting NEW card samples to share with you... Yesterday was my annual group meeting with members of my Stampin' Up! team and I have lots of great new inspiration! So check back this evening!

For now, I just wanted to remind you that today is the last day of the Fall Frenzy special. I know lots of you have already ordered some of the stamp sets included in this special, but I wanted to make sure no one misses out! The Stem Silhouettes stamp set from the Holiday Mini has certainly be the most popular so I thought I would post this simple card that we made with it at the last Stamp-A-Stack.

I will be placing an order this evening, so if you would like anything, please let me know!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Simple...

I picked two really simple cards to share with you tonight... both cards look very nice, but are so easy to make! The butterfly card is one that I made some time ago. It uses the Sweet Shapes stamp set. The Tempting Turquoise card stock "pops" from the neutral background that's made with Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel card stock. One thing that I really like is how the Horizontal Slot Punch has been used to tie a little length of ribbon to this card.

Of course, we never want to need a sympathy card, but this one is such a nice card for such a time. This card is made with the Close as a Memory stamp set. The soft colours - Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla - make a nice combination. I've added some of the new Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon on this.



Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Another Garden Whimsy Card


I adapted a card that I saw created by Liane Binder to make this beautiful card... I love the colours - Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive. This card is bright and cheerful! In addition to using the Garden Whimsy stamp set, I also used the Fine Lace background stamp on the strip of Rose Red card stock and this fantastic greeting comes from the All Holidays set. This card looks better in real life, but hopefully this gives you some inspiration!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Sunday, September 16, 2007

More Fun & Fast Notes!

Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying this stamp set? I know I have, but I just have to say again that it is so versatile and easy to use... We actually used it for two cards at the Stamp-A-Stack this weekend. This great birthday card was one that we CASEd from Eleonor. I loved the colours on this as soon as I saw it. It's such a fun card!


We had a great time at the Stamp-A-Stacks this weekend... twenty stampers created 176 cards! I always enjoy watching our cards being re-created. I especially enjoy seeing some of the adjustments and changes that are made as stampers get creative... I had posted a baby card that I made for the Stamp-A-Stack a few posts ago... we also made this card in Groovy Guava. This card turned out to be quite popular and we saw lots of creativity as different images were used - the birthday cake, the hedgehog, the bird and the wedding cakes were all popular and looked great! I liked the wedding cakes on this card so much that I stamped a couple tonight... A few of the creative stampers this weekend flipped the Double-Sided Designer Paper over and used the other side which looked fantastic with the wedding cakes so I did the same thing. And, I added some Irridescent Ice Emboss Powder to the cakes using a VersaMarker. I love these cards - beautiful in both Soft Sky and Groovy Guava!

Last night and today, I've been creating some new Christmas cards and I used the tree from Fun & Fast Notes for a couple. Here's my favourite. I used Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa and Old Olive on this card. I stamped the Ruby Red piece with the Canvas background stamp and the greeting comes from the new All Holidays stamp set. I coloured the tree with Stampin' Write Markers, but I thought the pot looked a little dull when I coloured it in solid so instead, I used the fine tip of the marker and left some white space. I'm quite pleased with this card!

Well, I'm going to get back to stamping... I hope to get one or two more cards created tonight!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Friday, September 14, 2007

This post's for you...


Trish! This card was stamped by my friend and fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Lucie. Lucie is an amazingly creative stamper. And I'm posting it here tonight by request... Trish saw it at the Stamp-A-Stack tonight and asked me to post it to my blog because she really liked it!

Lucie used the Pick a Petal stamp set to make the flower and each petal is cut out individually. She also sponged them and drew the veins in the petals by hand. This makes a very unique card... I think that Lucie, like so many stampers, truly does stamp "from the heart" so this is a special creation!

Thanks for the great card, Lucie!!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Take Three

Here's a card that I designed the other night... It was one that came to me quite easily - I love it when that happens! I was working on cards for the Stamp-A-Stack and noticed this stamp set on my shelf... It's called Take Three and it's a set that I liked as soon as I first saw it introduced, but I haven't used it enough. So, I decided to see if I could come up with a card and this is it! It's a simple card, but I really like it. The colours are Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. I crumpled the Chocolate Chip piece to give it some texture and I stamped the More Mustard piece with the Canvas background stamp then swiped the stamp pad over it to add some streaks of colour. The two More Mustard brads add a nice finishing touch.

Here's a card that I made a while ago... I still like it a lot because it is quite unique. There's a lot of cutting involved in this one! This one uses Ruby Red, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy and Old Olive. I used the Canvas background stamp on it too... These two stamp sets can combine to make lots of great cards!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Crayon Resist


This is going to be a quick post as I'm still working on creating new cards for the Stamp-A-Stack this weekend... and watching the Canadian Idol finale at the same time!

This is a card that Mom stamped this summer. I love the colours. It uses the Crayon Resist technique which many of you have learned in my Techniques Classes. The two different colours of ink - Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise - are applied with Sponge Daubers. I like the little tab that's added to this card...

Okay, I have to get back to stamping!

Enjoy the sunshine and happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Confessions of a Stamper...

Okay, everyone, I'm about to type something that you may find shocking... I've been suffering from a terrible condition these last few weeks and it got frightfully serious this weekend. I was nearly ready to seek medical attention, but thankfully I managed to recover just in time. You see, it seems that I came down with a terrible case of "stampers block"! It's true... not only had I seemingly lost my creativity, it got to the point that I was even lacking the will to try to create! Last night, I was home alone - the perfect opportunity to hide in my stamping room to create, but I sat at the table and had no idea what I might make... I pulled our stamps, ink and card stock, but nothing seemed to go well so I gave up and started to clean instead. Can you imagine? Cleaning on a Saturday night instead of stamping?!! Well, I'm happy to report that this afternoon, with a brief intervention of some serious card surfing on Splitcoaststampers, I am fully recovered! And, here's the proof... I started by "CASE"ing a couple cards and then the creative juices started to flow again!! PHEW!!

The first card is one that I created on my own... It was the fourth card I made this afternoon. It uses the Fun & Fast Notes stamp sets - one of my new favourites! It's such a fun set that's so easy to use. And this card was really simple thanks to the Prints Designer Series Paper that I used in So Saffron, Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery. In fact, the Prints Designer Series Paper came in very handy tonight... I also used it on the next three cards. The basic ideas for all three of these cards came from Splitcoaststampers...

This baby card is also stamped with the Fun & Fast Notes. I really like the Soft Sky card stock and am planning to make this same card in Groovy Guava for a girl. The Double-Stitched Grosgrain adds a nice finishing touch to this one. This will be a card choice at next weekend's Stamp-A-Stack - spaces are still available on Saturday morning... email be at bevennis@shaw.ca to register.

I love this next card!! This is the first time I've used this stamp set - Garden Whimsy. I've seen so many fantastic cards made with this set - I just had to order it and was excited to use it today. Aren't the colours eye-catching on this card? The main card is Blue Bayou and I've also used the Double-Stitched Grosgrain in this colour. The background papers are Soft Sky Prints with a striped Purely Pomegranate paper from the new Holiday Harmony Designer Series Paper in the mini catalogue. Also notice the little photo corner that I punched out to anchor the main image... The greeting is from the Amazing to Zany set.

This card uses the new stamp set called Stem Silhouettes from the current Holiday Mini Catalogue. It's a very different set which I think that I will really enjoy using for a change. This set is on sale this month - 30% off when you place a $40 order. I also used the wide grosgrain ribbon on this card for a little something new... I think this is the first time I've used it and I do quite like it.


Okay, one last confession for this post... I went to a birthday party today and I didn't bring a stamped card! Don't worry, I didn't bring a store bought card either - no card at all! It was a birthday party for one-year old twin girls... I did bring gifts but thanks to my lack of creativity, I just didn't manage to make the cards. I figured it was just their first birthdays and they'd never know... Well, the birthday girls didn't care of course, but their Mom did comment. I felt very guilty as their Mom dug through the gift bags looking for my card and then seemed quite surprised to learn there wasn't one... So, I made the girls each a card tonight! I wanted them to be similar but not identical. And, I did resort to a retired set - Pretty Princess - because it has the best cake with just one candle on it, perfect for a first birthday card! So, even though this set isn't available anymore, I thought I'd share these two cards with you because I am quite proud of them. I used the Faux Diamond Dust technique on the cakes which adds a little bling. Isn't it amazing how different a card can look just by changing the colours?

Well, that's it for confessions tonight... I'm off to tidy my stamping room after this day of great creativity!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Fall Frenzy

I'm not quite ready to say farewell to summer yet... come to think of it, did summer actually arrive yet?!! But, fall is just around the corner so here's a September special to help get us ready!

When you purchase $40 in regularly priced merchandise, you qualify to purchase one of each of the following stamp sets at 30 percent off!

Bitty Boos Too ~ $17.47

Haunting Halloween ~ $18.17

Thoroughly Thankful ~ $22.37

Autumn Fest ~ $23.07

Elementary Essentials ~ $27.27

Stem Silhouettes ~ $30.77 (from the Holiday Mini Collection 2007)

This special ends September 30th...

And, hopefully you have had a chance to look through the fantastic new Holiday Mini Collection 2007! There are some really nice new holiday stamps in this collection. I'm looking forward to using my new Tags for All set to make Christmas gift tags this year. I love the new Holiday Harmony Designer Series Double-Sided Paper on page 12 and I'm really excited about the Elastic Cord in Silver and Gold on page 11! But, the best news of all - all of the stamp sets in this collection are die cut... this means that there is no cutting involved when you receive your stamps! I put mine together in no time at all!! Click on the catalogue to the left to see all of the new products that are available now until November 30th!

I'm back from a few days out of town and am looking forward to some stamping time this weekend... and, I'm looking forward to sharing my new creations with you soon!

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

(All images copyright 1990-2007 Stampin' Up!)