Let's Celebrate

Hey there stampers!
Thanks for joining me on this beautiful sunny summer Wednesday.  Wish I didn't have to go to the dentist today, but on second thought, I guess I should be feeling happy that I get to visit the dentist.  How many people in this world endure terrible pain from decaying and/or broken teeth?  More than I want to think about!  So with that thought in mind, I'll happily go to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned this morning.

I've been working on Big Shot projects for my Technique Geeks class that is coming up on Friday, August 8th at 7 pm at my house.  So far I have a pretty card and a fun french fry box made.  Today I'll be working on the second card, a great design that I saw at convention.  I'll show it to you soon, but first I have to make it!

Today I want to show you a card that's made with the new Striped Scallop Thinlit die that's in the lower left-hand corner of page 228 in the new annual catalog.  There are several tricks to using this new thinlit, which I'll be sharing with you at the class.  Take a peek and let me know if you like it.

This class is built around new items for the Big Shot, so I thought a card using this new background thinlit,
the new Flower Fair Framelits, plus the Banner Framelit dies would make for a very Big Shot-intensive card that will keep everyone busy turning that crank!  The colors I used are Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, and Old Olive.  The sentiment is from "Sumthin' Sumthin'" on page 8 of the new annual catalog.

I'd love it if you could join me for this class.  I'm hoping that Friday night will work for some of you.  My daughter and her little girls will be visiting next week from California, so I needed to move the Technique Geeks class from Thursday night to Friday night, as they are leaving Friday afternoon. It just would not have worked to be holding a class while we have family visiting. Please check your inbox for the evite I sent for this class.  I would appreciate a response very much!

Have a great Wednesday and I'll hope to see you back here on Friday when I'll show you the cute little
French Fry box.

Oh, one more thing... tomorrow (July 31st) is the last day for the Buy 3, get one free offer on Designer Paper.  This offer is good for the $10.95 packs of DSP only, but what a nice deal!  And of course you don't pay shipping on the 4th package either.  It is entirely free!

Choose Happiness!
Susan

Sunny Monday

Hello there stampers!
Thanks for stopping in this sunny Monday!  As you might have guessed, I've got a simple and sunny card for you today, to go with our wonderful weather.  We made this cute and quick card at Marilyn and Joan's party on Saturday and I thought you'd like it too.
Check it out...

I saw a similar card on the blog memystampsandi.blogspot.com and thought I'd case it.  Of course I ended up changing a few things, like the colors and the ribbon.   I used the new photopolymer set called Flower Patch, which you can see on page 136 of the annual catalog.  Although this set has plenty of large blossoms, I chose to use one of the smallest blooms and its corresponding stem.  Daffodil Delight card stock gives this card a happy disposition and the Mossy Meadow is a nice contrast to the yellow.  I had fun using my Fringe scissors to create the grass that the flowers are springing out of.  The saying is from the same set as well.  I used the very versatile Decorative Dots embossing folder to add a bit of texture and extra interest, along with some of the new 1/4 inch cotton ribbon in Daffodil Delight.  If you haven't tried this ribbon yet, please do.  It is soft and pliable and easily tied. Best of all, it comes in 12 popular Stampin'Up! colors and is only $5.95 for a 10 yard roll.  That's a great buy!

Thanks for coming by today! Let's meet up again on Wednesday, when I'll have another card that will inspire you to get out your stampin' stuff!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

Choose Happiness

Hip Hip Hooray for Friday!

It looks like we've made it through another week!  I wish there was a way we could slow things down, though.  Summer is going by much too quickly to suit me.  I want to drag it out as long as possible... how about you?  Are you a fan of summer like me?

One of my favorite quotes goes like this..." We tend to seek happiness, when happiness is actually a choice."
Isn't it good to know that we don't have to go hunt out happiness, like some kind of hidden treasure?  We just have to choose happiness.  Of course sometimes that's easier said than done.  But knowing that our happiness is up to us and that we can make a conscious choice to be happy is empowering.
Here's another happiness quote that's a favorite of mine:
" I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be, for I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."  Martha Washington. What a wise woman she was!


By now I suppose you might be wondering why I'm focusing on choosing happiness.  Well, that's because the card I'm going to show you right now has the sentiment "Choose Happiness."  Here it is...

Some of you probably know that I'm a stamper who loves the collage look... where images are combined and stamped on top of each other to make a sort of collage.  For this card, I started by stamping the Dictionary Background stamp in Crumb Cake on a panel of Very Vanilla.  Then, using images from the  Choose Happiness stamp set (page 118) I stamped over the dictionary page in three of the new In-Colors--
Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, and Lost Lagoon.  I tried to stamp randomly, to avoid straight lines.  I made sure to have some of the images going off the edge of the paper, which helps the stamping look more random.  I stamped the sentiment in Lost Lagoon and then punched it out with the Artisan Label punch (page 220).  I love the new In-Color stitched satin ribbon this year and I love how this Lost Lagoon ribbon looks on this card.

I hope you've got some fun plans for the weekend!  I'm looking forward to stamping with Marilyn and Joan at their stamping party on Saturday at 1 o'clock at my house.
Thanks for reading along with my blog!
Happy week-ending, everyone!
Susan

Big Shot Swap Project

Hello again and happy Wednesday!

Time is just flying by and I can't believe it is already the 4th week of July!  How did that happen?
I hope you aren't getting bored with these convention projects, because I've got another one for you today.

Each year at convention I meet up with a group of demonstrators from Kansas City.  We all stay at the same hotel and over the past 5 or so years we've become friends.  One of these demonstrators organized a Big Shot swap for us this year and for some reason I just couldn't seem to find an idea I wanted to pursue.  I spent way too much time agonizing over what to make, instead of just getting busy.  I knew I didn't want to make a three-dimensional item such as the new Fry Box or Hamburger Box (see these cute boxes on page 233 of the catalog) because they'd be squashed in my luggage. I finally settled on the new Kraft Grid Journals (see page 200).  Here's what they looked like when I was finished...

And here's a list of all the new products I used:

Kraft Grid Journals\
Kraft Card Stock
Tiny Triangles Embossing Folder
Flower Frenzy Bigz L Die for the Big Shot
Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, and Mossy Meadow Card Stock
Mossy Meadow Stitched Satin Ribbon
Rotary Alphabet Stamp (You can make any words or phrases you want!)

One item was not new... the Very Vanilla label cut with the Apothecary Accents Collection.

Once I got started, these were pretty quick and easy to make.  Thankfully I only needed to make 6 of them, so that was a happy thing.  I think I might have grown a little tired of cranking the Big Shot to make 20 or more.

I sure appreciate all of you loyal blog-readers!  Once again, my thanks for coming here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to see what I've been stamping. Please come back on Friday because I have a card I think you'll like!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

She believed she could, so she did!

Happy Monday, stampers!
I'm back from the convention and I'm working on adding all of the great swaps cards to my display boards! I think you'll find looking at all of the swaps very inspiring.  There are so many great card designs!  

Today I'm going to show you a little gift that I made for a demonstrator friend who reached a mileston in lifetime sales with Stampin'Up!  You could easily do something similar with a notebook and designer paper and make a fun gift for a friend.

Wouldn't this make a great graduation gift, or a gift for a friend who landed a new job?  Maybe you know someone who recently achieved a long-held goal.  This sentiment is perfect for those occasions!  This sentiment is from the Feel Goods stamp set, a carry-over set from last year's catalog.  You can find it on page 36 of this year's catalog.  There are some other equally great thoughts in this set.
The DSP I used on this little journal is called Back to Black.  Check it out at the bottom of page 187.
There's nothing quite as crisp as the combination of black and white and this collection has some striking patterns in it.  I added a little two-layered flower stamped with the Flower Shop set on Hello Honey card stock and punched out with the Pansy Punch.  The sentiment was stamped in black on Whisper White card stock and then cut out with the Deco Labels Collection of framelits on page 231 of the catalog.

Have you stamped lately?  If not, get out some stamps, ink, and paper and PLAY!  Creativity is good for the soul!  Thank you for stopping by today. May your week be filled with sunshine and happiness!
Susan

Another Work of Art

Hello again, stampers!
Thanks for coming back this fine Friday!  Do you have great plans for the weekend?  This is definitely the busiest time of year for all sorts of festivals.  In our little town of Sherwood, it's Robin Hood Festival weekend, with a parade through Old Town Sherwood and tons of other activities.  As you know, I'm in Salt Lake City enjoying a grand time at the Stampin'Up! convention.  I'm going to have a lot to share with you once I return home!

I think by now, most of my customers are familiar with the Work of Art stamp set on page 165 of the new catalog.  I've made quite a few cards with this amazing set and I'm sure there are countless others that I'll make in the future with this very versatile set.   Here's my latest "work of art..."

 Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Sky, Pool Party, and So Saffron are the colors I used for the different elements in the Work of Art set.  The sentiment is from Fabulous Four on page 13 of the new catalog.  In case you can't read the fine print, it says "Celebrate amazing, spectacular, fantastic you."  I added some of the new sequin stars from the 2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment on page 208.  There are round sequins, hearts, and stars in the 5 In-Colors that were introduced last year.  I used a glue dot to adhere each one, so those stars  will really stick!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  I hope I'll see you back here on Monday.
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan

Sweet Baby Boy

Hi there stampin peeps!
Hope everyone is having a good week so far!  If it hasn't been the best, then you can take comfort in the fact that today is "hump" day... after Wednesday is over, you're over the hump and you can coast downhill to the weekend.
While you are reading this, I'm winging my way to the big Stampin'Up! convention in Salt Lake City!  It's the highlight of the year for crazy demonstrators like me.  The general sessions, when all the new products are revealed, the prize give-aways, the stamping demonstrations, the fabulous displays, and just being with thousands of other demonstrators who are crazy too... it's quite the best time!  There are classes to attend, make-and-takes to do, and oh, I almost forgot about all the card swapping that goes on.  It starts the minute you get to the Portland airport (where there are lots of demos flying out at the same time) and goes on at the Salt Lake City airport, the hotels, the convention center, and even restaurants.  When I return with all of the great cards I swapped, I'll be adding them to my display boards for your viewing pleasure and stamping inspiration.
Today I want to show you a cute baby card I made for a young friend who's about to deliver a sweet baby boy.  It's a clean and simple card, but I love how it turned out!

The colors are simply Pool Party and Whisper White.  I used the fun little elephant from Zoo Babies for my focal point.  It isn't often that I need a card for a new baby, but when I do, Zoo Babies is always there to help me create a quick and cute card that the new mommy will love (and hopefully save in a baby book).

Thanks for stopping by today and please come back on Friday when I'll have another classic card for you.
I may or may not be showing you photos from convention... it depends on how my camera uploads to my new laptop.  But I'll still have posts for you while I'm away!
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan

Faux Cloisonne from Technique Geeks

Hi there stampers!

I wasn't going to give my "secret" away, but since it really is no secret, today I'm going to share with you a technique that we used at Technique Geeks last Thursday.  It is called Faux Cloisonne, which means that it's a technique that mimics the look of cloisonne.  Google "cloisonne" and you'll see some examples.  Basically  it is metal with an overlay of decorative enamel.  I'm sure you've seen cloisonne jewelry.  I used to have a little cloisonne pill box... don't know whatever happened to it.

Anyway... let's get to the card we made on Thursday...

And here's the not-so-secret to the technique.  You simply heat emboss with gold powder on glossy magazine pages and then punch out the images.  So, so simple!  The trick is in finding magazine pages that will give the look you want.  I found that pictures that have some color variation in them work best.  In the example above, the butterfly on the left was stamped with Versamark on top of a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers.  The middle butterfly was stamped onto a picture of trees.  The one on the right was stamped over a bouquet of yellow flowers.  Half the fun of the technique is finding the photos.  What a great excuse to sit down with a stack of magazines and browse through them... one of my favorite things to do.
That reminds me of a great quote I want to share with you.  I ran across this one on some merchandise by Mary Engelbreit when I was at a local craft store the other day.  It says "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."  So there, you now have permission to waste time, as long as you're enjoying it!  So get a stack of old magazines spend some time finding pretty images that you can stamp over.

I hope you'll give the Faux Cloisonne technique a try very soon!  I think you'll love it.  I will caution you though, you really need a fairly detailed stamp such as this butterfly from Papillon Potpourri.  Please send me a quick email if you have questions.  Have a great Monday and a wonderful (and warm!) week!
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan

Simple and Sunny

Yippee!  It's Friday and it's sunny!  Are you getting into the summer groove yet?  I've been to the splash park with the grandchildren, I've eaten corn on the cob and watermelon, I've been to the Farmer's Market, and we've been eating dinner on the patio.  Things I haven't done yet:  berry-picking and outdoor concerts, but those things will happen soon, I hope.  Summer in Oregon is the best!

To go along with a sunny day, I've got a simple and sunny card for you.  This is one of the designs that I made in quantity to swap at convention, which is coming up in just a few days.

I used the new All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack on page 185 of the new catalog.  I just love the fun and flowery papers in this collection.  I used the Flower Shop stamp set (a carryover from last year's catalog) and the Pansy Punch to make the sweet two-layered flower.  Some Mossy Meadow card stock accents the center of the flower and provides a nice horizontal element to the card.  I colored a pearl with my new Blendabilities alcohol marker in Daffodil Delight to match the Daffodil Delight card stock. The sentiment is from the very versatile And Many More stamp set, shown on page 20 of the annual catalog.  With 23 sayings, this stamp set belongs in every stamper's collection.

What are your plans for the upcoming sunny summer weekend?  I'm excited that I have a full house for my annual Birthday Bash on Saturday at 1 o'clock.  After that, I'll be packing my suitcase in preparation for take-off on Wednesday the 16th, when I'm Salt Lake City-bound for the Stampin'Up! convention.  It is always so much fun and definitely one of the highlights of my summer.

Hope your Friday is a happy one and leads right into a wonderfully relaxing weekend.  Enjoy all that summer has to offer... it won't be here long!
See you on Monday for more stamping inspiration!
Susan

Technique Geeks Rule!

Hello again and welcome back to the Classic Card!

I've got another "geeky" card for you today--- one that we'll be making at the first meeting of the Technique Geeks on Thursday night.  While not a new and revolutionary technique, I hope making this card will serve to remind everyone how awesome clear embossing on darker card stock can look.  In fact, the darker the card stock, the more impressive the card!

I've fallen in love with some of the new In-Colors and I've featured them on this card... Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow.  In my humble opinion, they are quite striking together.  Take a look and tell me that you agree...

Of course, the photo doesn't do justice to the shiny gleam of the clear embossing on the Hello Honey card stock.  Nor can you see the glossy goodness of the Early Espresso embossing on the birds and nest.  When you see this card "in real life," you'll love it!  The wood texture on the half-oval, the sponging around the edges, and the new cotton ribbon in Early Espresso all combine to give the card a nice natural look.  This neutral card could be used for almost any occasion-- birthday, anniversary, sympathy, get well, etc. and would be equally appropriate for a man or a woman.  The bird/nest silhouette is from the new stamp set
World of Dreams on page 127 of the new catalog.  There are four different silhouettes and two great sentiments in this set.  When I first  laid eyes on this set, I knew it was a must-have for me, as I love the look of a dark silhouette over a stamped or sponged background.
There are still two open spots left for Thursday night, July 10th at my house, so if you'd like to attend, please send me a quick email and I'll add your name to the list!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

Technique Geeks

Hello Stampers and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a safe and fairly sane 4th of July celebration!  Now that we have the holiday weekend behind us, we can get back into our regular routine and for me that means blogging, working on cards for upcoming classes and events, and going to Curves.  I've got waaay too many curves, most of them in the wrong places, so back to the workouts I go!

I'd love for you to join in my new Thursday night summer stamping classes called Technique Geeks.  The dates are July 10th and 24th and August 7th and 21st.  Each class will focus on a different technique. The classes start at 7pm and are $10, or free with a $30 purchase.  This Thursday the 10th is all about heat embossing.  Here's one of the cards we'll be making on Thursday...

For this card, I heat-embossed white vellum card stock with white embossing powder.  This gives a nice frosty look to the flowers.  With as hot as it is outside, I welcome anything frosty!  I used the new stamp set Beautiful Bunch for the large flower, then punched it out with the new Fun Flower punch.  The smaller flowers are from the set Flower Shop and were punched out with the Pansy Punch. The flower centers are punched from Brushed Gold card stock and there's a thin mat of the Brushed Gold around the focal panel which was embossed with the Fancy Fan embossing folder. I stepped things up a bit with the white organza ribbon and the pearls.  Wouldn't this be a great wedding or anniversary card?  And of course this layout would be great to use with flowers of any color.
Now, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to drive down to Curves and get that workout over with.  Have a good Monday, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

Age is Just a Number

Hey there stampers!  Happy Friday and Happy 4th of July!

The fireworks started here last night and will be ongoing for several days.  One day of pyrotechnics is just not enough for the crazy people in "Sureweird" aka Sherwood.  It's like this every year, so I should be accustomed to the craziness by now.   Hope your 4th will be relaxing and fun and that you won't be missing any fingers, toes, or other body parts when it's all over.

My card for today is one that I made to swap during the Stampin'Up! convention that is coming up on July 17th.  I  love the sentiment on this card and if you're over 50, you might like it as well.

I can remember how ancient I felt when I turned 40, then I felt panic when I turned 50, then sheer fear at 60!  Now that I'm over halfway to 70, my panic at growing old has been turned down a notch and my current thought is, what difference does a number make?  Age has nothing to do with anything of lasting importance in this life.  It says nothing about your ability to love unconditionally, to accept people who are different than you, to respect people who hold a different point of view than yours.  It doesn't indicate what kind of parent you were, or whether you are kind and considerate of others, or whether or not you conduct your life with integrity.  It doesn't say anything about the kind of friend you are.  It doesn't say how tolerant you are of people with a different faith than yours.  So..... no more worries about age.  It is just a number and doesn't say anything important about you, other than you are one of the lucky ones because you're up here, above ground, living your life the best way you know how.  So for all those friends of yours who are getting up there in years, here's a fun saying you can stamp on their card to let them know that you're not counting their years.  "Umpteenth" covers a lot of ground!

I used colors drawn directly from the Flower Pot DSP (page 186).  Speaking of Designer Series Paper... during the entire month of July, when you buy 3 packages of paper, you'll get the 4th one free.  How nice is that??   And many of you have not stocked up on the new papers yet, so this is perfect timing!  This offer applies only to the DSP packages that are 10.95. The sentiment is from a new stamp set called Oh My Goodies, which you can see on page 9 of the new catalog. This set coordinates with the Deco Labels Framelits on page 231, so it was super simple to cut out the sentiment and the mat behind it.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please be careful out there, stampers!  It's going to sound like a war zone later! Have a great Fourth of July everyone!
Susan

Another visit to Sea Street

Hello Stampers!
Whoa!  Was yesterday HOT or what?  We have the Seattle troops visiting and we spent part of the day at Cannery Square in Sherwood, enjoying the splash park.  Or should I say the kids enjoyed the splash park?  Amy and I just watched from the sidelines, as there was a mob of kids there, some armed with water cannons and we had no desire to be squirted in the face with super-chlorinated water.  After that, we came home and filled two wading pools for more watery fun.

Speaking of watery fun reminds me of the card I have for you today.  Take a look see if you agree that phrase "watery fun" describes this card perfectly...

This is a diorama card, made with just a couple of score lines on either side of the front panel and either side of the back panel as well.  The best part is that when you slide it into an envelope, it flattens out perfectly, so there's no problem in mailing a card like this.
Of course you can see that I used the Sea Street stamp set once again... just love that cute smiling octopus!  He's so much more attractive than the real thing!   The colors are Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana (for the sponged background), Real Red for the school of fish and Crumb Cake for the starfish.  The sentiment is from the new set called Tag Talk on page 66 of the new catalog. I stamped it in Night of Navy, punched it out with the Label  Bracket punch and backed it with a 1 3/4 inch circle of Real Red.
If you come to my Birthday Bash on July 12th, you'll get to make this fun diorama card. You'll go home with the directions so you can make more of these.  The diorama format is perfect for outdoor scenes.
Let's hope today will be just a tad cooler than yesterday.  Even if it's not, I say hurray for summer... it's finally here!  Break out the iced tea, lemonade, and watermelon!
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan