April 2009 Card Kit - Bloomin' Beautiful Card

Today's post is my April 2009 Card Kit using the Bloomin' Beautiful stamp set.

Each kit will provide the supplies to make 12 cards including all the pre-cut card stock, embellishments, envelopes, and step-by-step instructions. The monthly card kit is $15. Shipping is $5.00.

Items you will need to complete the April 2009 card kit:
Bloomin' Beautiful Stamp Set - $25.95 - SALE - $23.35
Tag Corner Punch - $6.95
1" Circle Punch - $10.95
1-1/4" Circle Punch $15.95
Stazon Inkpad - $7.95
AquaPainter (set of 2)-$16.95 (coloring option A)
Blender Pens (set of 3) - $9.95 (coloring option B)
Mellow Moss, So Saffron Inkpads- $5.25 each (coloring option A or B)
Mellow Moss/So Saffron Markers - $3.25 each (coloring option C)

You can also order an additional kit for only $12.00!

Email me at stampwithjane@charter.net if you would like to order this kit!

Fellow Demonstrators - you can purchase the kit instructions without the supplies for only $5.00!

A Glittery Good Egg

Aren't these glittery chicks cute? Glitter has a way of fixing up any mistake! I used the new oval scallop punch too (which I love!).

14 Days of Love Projects/Cards - #1 - Mini Mailbox

Hello everyone!

I have 14 Days of Love projects and cards that I will be uploading from now until Valentine's Day. Today's project is one that is floating around websites and blogs everywhere...the adorable mini mailboxes from Target's Dollar Spot.

Here are some of the pictures of the ones I created for my Stamper's 8 Group:

Here are the instructions:

STAMPER’S 8 PROJECT – VALENTINE MAILBOX

Supplies
White Mailbox – Target Dollar Spot
Love You Much Stamp Set - NEW
Heart Trio Punch – NEW
Scallop Circle/1-3/8” Circle/1-1/4” Circle Punches
Riding Hood Red Inkpad
Riding Hood Red DSP
½” Circle Punch/Scissors
Riding Hood Red/Choc Chip/Whisper White CS
Riding Hood Red or Chocolate Chip Textured CS
Riding Hood Red Striped Ribbon
White and Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon
2-Way Glue Pen/Stampin’ Dimensionals/Sticky Strip
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter/Gold Brad/1/16” Punch

DIRECTIONS

1. Take piece of RHR DSPaper. This fits all the way around the mailbox. DO NOT ADHERE YET!!!! Eyeball and center DSP around mailbox with about 2” on either side of DSP to be on the bottom of the mailbox.
2. USING FINGERS, with DSP is proper space, rub gently around mailbox grommet – this will help you know where to punch in step #3.
3. Punch hole over the grommet impression with the ½” circle punch. Cut a center slit to the hole.
4. Attach a long piece of STICKY STRIP to each end of the DSP. Line up DSP (with circle punch/flag lined up) on mailbox and remove the redline tape one at a time.
5. Do the same with the TEXTURED CARDSTOCK PIECE and the RHR RIBBON PIECE.
6. Cut 6” strips of White and Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon. (3 Chocolate, 2 White). Tie in knots on flag arm. Trim as desired.
7. Stamp Love You Much, Hugs&Kisses, and Heart images on Whisper White with RHR ink.
8. Punch 4 sets of heart trios.
9. Add Dazzling Diamonds Glitter with 2-Way Glue Pen – let dry.
10. Punch (2) 1-3/8” Circles in RHR; Punch (2) Scallop Circles in Chocolate Chip
11. Attach pieces to squares and scallops. Add brad to flower on one piece.

GLUING TIPS FOR FINAL ASSEMBLY
When adhering to the actual tin, use the Sticky Strip.
When adhering large hearts to DSP on mailbox, use Stampin’ Dimensionals.
When adhering smaller hearts to images, use 2-Way Glue Pen.
When adhering the scallops to the mail flag, use Stampin' Dimensionals.

I hope you enjoy this project!

Stamper's 8 Group Project-Just Jawing Tote & Spider

This is the project my Stamper's 8 Group did last week. It is an adorable tote, and it held one of the cutest spider treats! (See below)

Project Materials-Tote
brown or white bag (size is up to you) I used a 4" wide bag (smaller than a lunchbag)
Just Jawing/Eat, Drink, and Be Scary Stamp Sets
Basic Black/Old Olive/Glossy White (see sizes below)
Whisper White cardstock
VersaMark Pad
Spritzer Tool
Basic Black Marker
Going Gray inkpad
Old Olive inkpad
Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
Crystal Effects
Rubber Brayer
Black Hemp
Word Window Punch
Sticky Strip
Tag Punches
1/8" Punch
paper towel

Stamp skull on 4" x 4" piece of glossy cardstock with VersaMark. Set aside to dry.

Stamp tag on Whisper White and punch out with small tag punch. Punch out Old Olive large tag. Mount pieces, punch hole, and run hemp through hole. Set aside.

Ink brayer with Going Gray. Brayer over skull. Once it is colored to your liking, take paper towel and rub off excess ink from skull. This step really helps make the image POP!

Using Spritzer tool and Basic Black marker, spritz over skull piece to the desired look. Set aside to dry - the marker stays wet on the glossy cardstock for a bit!

To make the bag - my bags were 4" wide
Cut 2 pieces of 5.5" x 4.5" Basic Black cardstock
4" wide white bag - cut top off for a 4.5" tall bag
Put sticky strip on bag front and back
Peel off redline tape and mount to back cardstock and then attach front piece to bag.
Punch Word Window punch on top for handle
Attach skull piece to front of bag

Insert spider goody!

Tie with ribbon and attach a spider if you have one with Crystal Effects and the tag

Project Materials-Spider Goody

2 Punched out Basic Black Scallop Circles

2 Punched out 1/2" Whisper White Circles

2 Punched out 1/4" Basic Black Circles

1 Punched out 1/4" Real Red Circles

4 Punched out Basic Black Photo Corners (large)

4 Punched out Old Olive Photo Corners (small)

York Peppermint Patty-Patty goes in between scallop circles

Photo corners should be mounted inside front and inside back scallops.

Template Example - Upsy Daisy Card

Ok, here is my example of the template I posted. I love this new Upsy Daisy stamp set. I used the new Kiwi Ribbon and spotlighted one of the daisies with some Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. Isn't the new Tangerine Tango In Color gorgeous?

Sock Monkey Birthday Card

I do love this sock monkey set - hopefully, my customers will too! Here is Sammy my Sock Monkey (don't you think he should be christened with a name?) getting ready for a birthday party!

Technique Tuesday Faux Denim Colored Ribbon Slide Card

This card was a big hit at my recent Technique Tuesday class. I showed my customers the faux denim technique (see the background strip). I also showed them how to color the new ribbon slides in the Spring Hodgepodge Hardware kit using Crystal Effects and ink refills.

Colored Embellishment - On a deli lid, pour a dime-sized amount of Crystal Effects. Add 1 drop of Brocade Blue ink refill. Mix with toothpick. Using the same toothpick as a paintbrush, paint the inner part of flower embellishment. Let dry before completing card.

Faux Denim - Swipe Brocade Blue inkpad over the Brocade Blue cardstock in long swipes lengthwise. Set aside to dry a bit. In the same direction, swipe the Night of Navy inkpad in long swipes. Again, set aside to dry a bit.

Lightly swipe the white craft ink over the blue ink in the same direction. Let this dry or use a heat gun to speed up drying process. Turn cardstock 90 degrees. Apply long stroke of the Night of Navy ink over the piece. Allow all inks to dry before finishing or matting faux denim pieces. Be aware, your Craft White pad will suffer a bit from this technique in appearance - but the effect is so worth it!

Stamp main flower in Stazon. Color with WCCrayons/Aquapainter. Sponge edges. Stamp small flower/phrase and punch out. Punch out label. Attach pieces.

Where is Spring?

If you live in the Midwest, you may be asking the same question. We've certainly had a quota for snow and winter weather this year. Well, if Spring needs a little nudge, I've got the perfect little card for it.

This card uses two very simple techniques - the spotlighting technique and one of my favorite background techniques - smooshing (yes, that is a technical term). For spotlighting, stamp the image twice and leave one of them uncolored. Then punch out the spotlighting section on the other image and color in and mount to another but slightly larger punched out piece. Attach on top of the uncolored image. For "smooshing", use your inkpad to make marks on the cardstock. I prefer to use the same color ink on cardstock, but coordinating colors look good on most cardstock as well.

Maybe this little birdie will chase the winter blues away!

The 2007 Fall/Winter Stamp Set Retirement List

The 2007 Fall/Winter Stamp Set Retirement List came out yesterday morning. I was very pleased to see it came out early as I had to leave by 7:00 am for a craft/vendor show.

Not surprised about many of the retiring sets - well, except for a few of the newer sets with a more valentine or spring appeal.

Serene Sunflower is the one I am most upset about. I LOVE that set...just used it last week in fact for an out-of-the box card using it for a Christmas wreath. Looks Like Spring was a surprise too. I haven't used it in a while (duh, SPRING). Just thought those two would make it to the Spring catalog and then retire after that.

Most of my favorite go-tos for the fall/winter holidays will be gone...Booglie Eyes, Carved and Candlelit, Flaky Friends, and my beloved Frosty...I may just have to wear black on Tuesday for my It's a Wrap! class. I knew it would be his last year. He deserves retirement as I have sold probably 50+ Frosty sets since he joined our catalog! Now he can sit back at the Stamp Set Retirement Home and play shuffleboard with Stella Stamper!

I do not keep many retired sets - the only ones I have kept throughout the years are religious sets (for the card outreach program at my church) and some masculine-related stamp sets. I think I have a total of 5 retired sets that I still use. Frosty may join this bunch though as my set is soo stained from use and it is a great set to use with kids.

Well the good thing about this December retirement list is I can use my retired samples for Christmas cards this year and not have to store them for 6 months!!!!

I guess I will start December's posts with a tribute to a dear friend ... Frosty!

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

This evening as I was making dinner, I caught the Friends episode with Phoebe's Smelly Cat video. I was never a big Friends fan, but loved Phoebe/Ursula on Mad About You. When I saw this episode, it reminded me I really wanted to share my Smell My Feet Tent Card.

As stated on the previous post, the tent card is making its way to nearly every stamping blog. I love Stampin' Up!'s new Batty for You stamp set - especially the smell my feet saying. Brings me back to my childhood I guess. So while you take a look at my creation, you can either start singing the childhood classic trick or treat song or the more updated Phoebe version Smelly Feet, smelly feet...why are you so smelly?

New Holiday Mini Collection

Stampin' Up!'s new Holiday Mini Collection should be showing up in your mailboxes. WOW! Besides the fabulous new stamp sets, wheels, ribbons, and accessories, did you know that ALL THE STAMP SETS IN THIS MINI COLLECTION ARE DIE CUT!!!! This will save stampers valuable time in mounting their stamps. As a demonstrator, I take pride in trimming my stamp sets very close to the image. I did not need to trim off any excess on the stamp sets.

At my Technique Tuesday class last week, I showed my customers a die-cut set from the new Holiday Mini Collection. They were impressed too!

What did I purchase from the Holiday Mini Collection (so far)? The Snow Jumbo Wheel (I collect snowmen so this was a must), Holy Triptych, Silver Elastic Cord, Holiday Harmony Double-Sided Designer Paper, Mini Library Clips, Autumn Apparitions, and the Autumn Leaves Wheel.

I've already uploaded several examples of the Autumn Apparitions stamp set to my stamped art gallery:

http://www.stampwithjane.com/autumnapparitions.html

Let me know what you think!

Yappy Day Projects

I'm involved in a group called "VC Rocks" - Virtual Convention Rocks. I was introduced to this group the first year I couldn't actually go to Stampin' Up!'s convention. We share the excitement of the new catalog, participate in swaps and classes, and chit-chat about our stamping and other-than-stamping lives. One of opportunities you can participate in is a Roomie Swap. You send RAKs back and forth and then you send a Roomie Box at the end. My roomie this year is a Stampin' Up! demo who is also a vet. Now, I don't own any pets, but I am partial to dogs (my sister's family has had 2 Golden Retrievers - Casey who is in doggy heaven - and Colby who is just as sweet). The new Yappy Day set is one of my new favorites, and I thought it was a perfect theme for my Roomie Box.

Yesterday, I finalized some of the goodies for the Roomie Box. Here is a doggy scrapbook I made using Very Vanilla envelopes as the base. You can view more detailed instructions on my gallery website - http://www.stampwithjane.com/wowprojectsenviebook.html

Then I made some stamper treat bags with some stamping goodies inside:

Aren't those just adorable? I hope my roomie likes them!

Still Working Out Some Blogging Extras

Hi everyone~

I have been trying to add a slide show to the blog...but haven't had any luck. I wanted to post my other examples from my Just Punchy stamp camp here. I will post one of the favorite cards though until I can get it resolved.
Isn't that frog adorable? I found using the 2-way glue pen was easiest when applying those tiny punches.

If you want to see more of the samples from this stamp camp, check out my stamped art gallery - www.stampwithjane.com/stampcampgalleryjustpunchy2007.html

Have a great Memorial Day!

In Full Bloom Simply Scrappin' Stamp A Stack

I recently held a Stamp A Stack using the In Full Bloom Simply Scrappin' Kit. This is such a fabulous kit. My customers made 20 cards (5 different cards, 4 of each). They were simple yet attractive.

Sadly, this Simply Scrappin' Kit will probably not return with the new Fall/Winter Collection as the stamp set will be retired.

Here is one of the cards the stampers made~


All the cards we made and other designs I came up with are uploaded to my stamped art gallery website - www.stampwithjane.com.

2007 Retirement List

Well, as I have said on this blog...May 1st is usually an exciting time for SU demos and customers alike.

The 2007 retirement list is out (see left column for a link - it will take a while to load). With over 585 stamp sets and wheels available during this year alone, Stampin' UP! retired about half of them (292 stamp sets and wheels) so far. The mini-catalog stamp sets or wheels that have been retired will not be announced until the unveiling of the new catalog.

In years past, I have usually "lost" between 20-30 stamp sets. This year's list was a true purging of old and tired sets (some have been in the catalog for over 10 years). My loss this year is 58 stamp sets and 14 wheels - double what I would usually lose. So I do feel a bit like I have been punched in the stomach with the retirement of some of the more recent stamp sets to my collection. I have been anxious and excited for this day to come - as for me it is a real spring cleaning. However, letting go of some of my new favorites is harder than in previous years...PETAL PRINTS? GIFTS OF JOY? (I loved that Santa) ALL NATURAL? NATURAL BEAUTY? SPORTING GOODS? CLASSIC PICKUPS?(my boys have their eye on this one) There are many more I will miss but knew their time was up.

These were my standbys...thank goodness Lovely as a Tree is still with us. I am looking forward to the new sets (and hopefully lots of masculine/boys sets that aren't too cutesy!), but today I am just a bit shell-shocked.

The Retirement List is Coming!

The retirement list is coming out tomorrow. Oh my gosh...I love this time of year! Demos have been itching to see the list. Will our favorite tried and true sets be on the list this year? Will SU finally get rid of those sets we just are tired of? Which mini-catalog sets will make it and which ones won't??? Which new sets from this year's catalog just didn't sell well enough to stay?

And this is just the beginning...the retired accessories list is coming out in June!

I love the cleaning out process. My customers love to purchase my used sets, and I truly enjoy clearing out my bins for the new stamp sets coming our way in July!

Looking through my card samples and separating out the retiring samples is also exciting to me. Usually my mom and my younger sister receive a bunch of them. My customers also love to get samples of the retired sets they buy. I sometimes find samples to re-use by just taking off the main retired focal point. I keep a box of these to play with when the new catalog stamp sets come in.

New Chipboard Products

Want to see the new chipboard products?

Stamping with Chipboard

You may have already heard that Stampin' Up! will be bringing out some new chipboard designs. If you haven't used chipboard in your stamping, WHY NOT?

No, really...chipboard is so fabulous to work with. The dimension you can add to your stamped art creations is spectacular!

I recently did a Chipboard Stamp Camp. There are so many ways to decorate chipboard - craft ink, Pearl Ex, Lumiere, and patterned paper to name a few. My favorite way to decorate chipboard is with patterned paper. Here is an example of one of the items created at my Chipboard Stamp Camp:

Distressing the edges of the covered chipboard is easy with Stampin' Up!'s sanding blocks. Check out my stamp camp gallery (www.geocities.com/stampwithjane) for more examples from my Chipboard Stamp Camp.

Using Stamp Camp Leftovers

It's been a while since I posted...but I have been stamping like crazy! I have been designing items (mostly cards) using sets from the mini-catalog, Doodle This/Doodle That and Office Accoutrement. Spring flowers are growing in my samples as well as in my garden!

When I host stamping events in my home, I tend to cut too much cardstock. So my stamping area sometimes gets dumped on after an event. As I am anxious to start something new, I see the piles of extra cardstock, ribbons, or accessories. Leftovers again??? I think to myself. Hmm, this sounds like when I make too much chicken for dinner, and I am the only one eating it after the second meal.

What I usually do with my leftovers is make the cards for my own personal card stash - and I'll send some of these cards to customers for their birthdays (well, at least those who didn't attend the Stamp A Stack!).

However, after this Spring Stamp A Stack, I had lots of the Petals designer paper (with the pretty So Saffron and White flowers) cut. I was getting bored with the same card, so I wanted to strike out a new stamping path. So I put to the side some of the pieces, and then I brought in pieces from other leftover projects...like that Cool Caribbean cardstock and the Chocolate Chip (which I seem to use very often this year). Well, just playing around with those pieces made a new color combo jump out at me. I just couldn't get enough! Here is one example using this new color combo (for me) and a new card format (again, for me):


I hope you like the color combo too!

Stamping with a New Stamp Set

After stamping with Polka Dots & Paisley all last month, I finally rewarded myself to stamping with another new set from the Spring Mini-Catalog - Doodle This. I spent most of yesterday creating new cards and projects. This is one of my favorites.It is a departure from my usual designs...my card designs tend to go the rectangular route.

I used the Spring Showers Paper (which is so pretty), some cream ribbon, and a small ribbon charm from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit. I know many of you are saying to yourself "I never knew it had a name!" Well, guess what, I didn't know the specific name until I read my demonstrator-only Stampin' Success magazine this week. If you come to my Just Punchy Stamp Camp next month, I'll be sharing the list of Hodgepodge Hardware names from Stampin' Up! headquarters.

I'll be sharing lots more designs as the week goes on...this has become a new favorite set!