Lots of little tricks

I made this card last night, based on this Splitcoaststampers' (SCS) sketch challenge.

Challenges are perfect for me when it comes to creating cards. First, I love challenges! If someone gives me a goal, I go after it until I reach it. I'm persistent to a fault sometimes (i.e. I don't know when to quit). Second, the SCS challenges give me a good starting point. Scrapbooking comes naturally for me, but when I sit down to make a card, the smaller canvas creates a roadblock for me. So I need a little jumpstarting in that area.

If you've never tried an SCS challenge before, you should! There's a different one everyday of the week and it's amazing how much you'll grow as a stamper - or scrapbooker (there are scrapping challenges, too)!

So, for this card, the sketch seemed to fit a square shape best, so I made my card 4.25" square. The ribbon (from Wal-Mart) was the inspiration for my color scheme. I used Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, and Tempting Turquoise cardstock for my layers. The saying stamp is from Seasonal Whimsy and the butterfly is from a company called Club Scrap.

I utilized a lot of little tricks in the making of this card. First one: did you know your Crop-A-Dile can dry emboss little circles? It can! Besides setting eyelets and punching holes, you can put your CAD settings so that it will put tiny circle impressions into your cardstock! SUCH a FUN use of this tool (I have a couple other ideas for these circles which I'll hopefully be able to try in the next few days). I did this to my Chocolate Chip cardstock (you can click on the picture for a more detailed look).

Second trick: the edges of my cardstock were distressed with my bone folder. Normally you use this tool for scoring and folding. If you run the pointed end along the edge of your paper a few times, you'll get a cool distressed look. It will even begin to separate the layers of cardstock, which is another great shabby look.

Third trick: I wanted to clear emboss my butterfly but I wanted to stamp it in Tempting Turquoise ink. I have that color in the Classic, fast-drying dye ink only. So I stamped the butterfly in my Versamark pad first, stamped it in my Tempting Turquoise ink pad, then stamped my Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The Versamark is clear so it didn't contaminate my TT pad and the clear embossing powder stuck perfectly to the image.

I finished off the card with a couple brads and some linen thread tied around the ribbon. Try these tricks on your next project! Or go try an SCS challenge!

Now go create!
-Nicole

Back to school in style

Emma had her first day of first grade today. SO much was new for her (new school, new teacher, new friends, full day, etc.) that I wanted to make her something fun. Something that would make her smile and think of home when she pulled it out of her backpack.

Her school supply list included a composition book, spiral notebook, and pencils (among countless other little things..I still haven't figured out what the bag of candy and ziploc bags are for!). I'd seen so many cool and funky supplies at Target and I thought, "Surely with my considerable stash I can come up with something similar."

Stampin' UP's demonstrator magazine had a super cute pencil holder and I immediately sat down to create it. Since the pattern is online on the demonstrator side of Stampin' UP's web site, I just had to print it out right on cardstock and then cut and score. How easy is that?! I stamped the polka dots from Polka Dots & Paisley in Purely Pomegranate ink on the same color cardstock. I used Big Deal Alphabet with Whisper White craft ink to stamp out Emma's name, then heat embossed it with White Detail Embossing powder. I then took a scrap of Very Vanilla cardstock and used my spiral punch along the edge. I glued this to the top inside edge of the pencil holder. I tied some bright and fun ribbon (from Wal-Mart - I was there for rubber cement and saw their entire ribbon section was being clearanced out for pennies!) around it to finish it off.


This next notebook is the spiral bound one-subject kind. I took a sheet of patterned paper (Creative Memories) cut to the dimensions of the cover plus a 1/2 inch on 3 sides (to wrap to the inside for a cleaner look) and ran it through my Xyron 900 (thanks, Mom! I love this gift :) ).

I cut a scrap of Pumpkin Pie cardstock into 4 pieces and rounded the corners with my corner rounder punch. I used Certainly Celery and Cameo Coral ink to stamp Emma's name (Big Deal Alphabet again) on a scrap of Apricot Appeal, of which I also rounded the corners.

I had two triangular scraps of the patterned paper left, so I glued them above the "m"s in her name. That's it!

I pretty much followed the same process with this composition book. I stamped some of the animals from the Wild About You set on the paper, using More Mustard, Soft Sky, and Ruby Red ink.

I *heart* this set! When I picked it out for my free set a few months ago, I did so reluctantly. But I knew I needed a set with solid images and one that could be used for kids and babies. I didn't have anything like that in my collection (*gasp* out of 50+ sets, nothing? No, nothing). I'm SO glad I got it! I've used it on multiple techniques (kissing and faux shaving cream to name just a couple), created numerous baby cards with it (read my last post for more about that), and stamped my kids some fun things. Again, I *heart* this set!

I didn't embellish these projects much because anything lumpy would have just been knocked off. After all, these are school supplies that one would hope are going to be used for the purposes of learning LOL!

Emma was very excited about her gifts and told me she had the "coolest school stuff in the class". Take THAT, Target LOL!

Now go create!
- Nicole

Babies Galore!

My circle of family and friends is experiencing a baby boom right now. Since March, there have been 4 babies born and my sister-in-law is expecting any hour (literally...she's a week past her due date). And there's still 2 more babies to arrive later on! This "baby boom" count does not even include the women within my Stampin' UP circle who've recently had little ones arrive.

I am One Happy Stamping Lady from all this! My baby stamps sat neglected for so long and I was wondering if I'd ever get to use them before my grandkiddos arrived (ok, I'm exaggerating there, but my point...)

What's even more wonderful about all this is that almost everyone has had a boy (there's been just one girl, to be specific). So not only have I been able to bust out the baby stamps, I've been able to stamp blues and greens! (I have 3 girls so I'm drowning in a million variations of pink and purple).

For those new arrival gifts, I've been creating thank you cards with matching envelopes. I used these pre-scored notecards and envelopes.

I've been just giddy at my craft table, giggling gleefully as I stamp blue polka-dot backgrounds and blue giraffes and - hey!- a green elephant! I pulled out a pack of baby-themed patterned paper I've had for several years and punched up the blue sheets. And I'm not done since there are more babies to come!

If you know of any little ones soon to arrive, consider stamping a gift for the baby and mom-to-be. Or just stamp a gift card holder or tag to wrap around a soft fleece blanket.

Speaking of babies, I've been getting lots of leftover packaging from baby-related items from a good friend. I plan to put it all to good use and once I do, I'll showcase here what I've made, so stay tuned!

Now go create!

- Nicole

In need of some sunshine

My husband Brian took his vacation this week and rather than suffer another looooooong 12+hour car trip with the 3 girls (even though the final destination is always spectacular - Hilton Head, Lake Placid - ok, why are we staying here again? LOL) we decided to take it easy and stay close to home. So, we headed to Ohio to visit the Steele side of the family (Brian has 4 siblings and they all live within a few miles of his parents' home) and then drove up north to Tionesta for a few days. It rained everyday of these trips! We had planned to take the girls to Idlewild Park tomorrow but now it's going to be blazing hot. So who knows?

In any case, I love rain so the weather this week didn't bother me in the least. It felt so conducive to relaxing and taking it easy. Rainy weather always makes me want to curl up with a book and drink hot chocolate - and I did get to read a good book this week!

But I understand many of you are in need of some sunshine ;)

So here's a Stamp Club project we did at last

month's good time.

I got the pattern from the Demonstrator Side of Stampin' UP's web site (a super perk to being a demo and if you need another perk - how's 12 free ink pads sound? Check it out here---->> free ink pads then contact me!). It's a pouch with a slide out bookmark.

We used the new Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate colors from the In Color line. I LOVE the new colors! These two, in particular, are well-suited to Christmas cards. I'm imagining all the fun, retro cards I can make this year with this color combo! Wild Wasabi is the perfect green for when you want something colorful without being so primary, if you know what I mean.

I'm still using my Scallop punch LOL! Seems like I use it on every project lately. You know how it is...you find an awesome color combo, or tool, or paper and you just keep using it because you're so excited about it and the ideas won't stop coming and you see what others are doing with it yadayadayada...well, that's the scallop punch for me! We're using it at next month's Technique Tuesday class for the Rubber Cement technique and also at this month's Stamp Club. I'll be posting those projects in the next few days so stop back to check them out.

Back to this project LOL...stamp sets used were Be Happy and Everyday Flexible Phrases. I used a retired Stampin' UP stamp for the bookmark saying and flowers but I received them as orphans (that is, they were not with their set) so I don't know the name. My inks were Summer Sun, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Basic Black. The "fun stuff" ( to me anyways LOL) are silver brads, scallop punch, blender pens, and stampin' sponges.

And about the sunshine...check out the bookmark quote ;)

Now go create!

-Nicole

It's amazing what you can do with a Simply Scrappin' Kit

In general, I like to take raw materials and fashion projects and embellishments from those. Kits with pre-made products had never found their way into my studio, simply because I prefer the "handcrafted touch" in a handmade object! If there are flaws in it, then all the better since it's truly unique (not to mention that by being less than a perfectionist means more crafting time!).

I had to change my tune with the Simply Scrappin' Kits, though. I've had several come my way via hostess and Sell-A-Bration benefits and *wowsers!* was I impressed! You can do SO MUCH with these kits! Sure, scrapbook pages are the obvious uses (and since the die-cuts are made from sturdy cardstock, you can really alter them up), but there are many other ways to use these kits. I recently made a funky scrapbook from the retired Friends & Flowers hostess Kit using the Jacob's Ladder album format for a graduation gift. That is, I created the physical album (not any layouts) using chipboard and the Kit. I did it in just an hour and I had to force myself to mail it out! Alas, I did not think to take a photo of it so I can't post a visual for you. Hmmm.....might have to make another LOL....

This project here is what we are doing at my Stamp Camp this Saturday. We're using the Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' Kit that was available during the 2007 Sell-A-Bration season. This entire project has just ONE stamped piece on it (and I'll leave it to you to figure out which piece that is *wink, wink*).

The card box can hold about 10 cards that are sized to fit in these small open-ended envelopes. The truly wonderful thing is that this entire project (card box and cards) used just a fraction of the Kit! So you could make several of these for gifts and it would be super-cute and super cost-effective for you!

The Saturday Stamp Camp filled up at my Sundae Spectacular back in July, which is why I never announced it. But just looking through the kit options in the Fall/Winter 2007 Collection makes me want to offer another one! I'm really loving the Winter Bright one for Christmas.

Now go create!

- Nicole

More Faux Sponging

Here's the next project I made using the Faux Sponging technique. If you read my last post, you'll remember I received this technique in a tutorial from another Stampin' UP demo, Erika Martin. I kept my card layout the same as hers in the tutorial, but I used different colors and stamps.

When creating this card, I knew I wanted to send it to my fabulous up-upline, Cherie Hunt, as a congratulations for all her achievements and awards at the recent Stampin' UP convention. She has such a beautiful soul and is always willing to help any of us in the Creative to the Core group (and there are over 50 of us now!). Cherie works hard at her business but she does it all out of genuine love, and I'm thrilled to see her being rewarded for it.

This card measures 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" and fits in a medium sized envelope. I used Taken With Teal as my card base and smallest layer, Pink Passion for the biggest layer, and Pretty in Pink for the middle layer. I used the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set for the image and word. Both were embossed with silver embossing powder. I added silver cord as a final touch (this particular silver cord is retired, but the upcoming Holiday Mini will have elastic silver cord). The edges of my card were brushed with Versamark ink and run through a pile of silver embossing powder.

Cherie, if you're reading this, you're the best!!!!! :)

Now go create!

-Nicole

Scrapbooking is fun!!!

I've been a scrapbooker for a few years longer than I've been a stamper. I was introduced to stamping not by making a card, but by stamping on my layouts. It amazed me that I could hand make my own embellishments, dress up pre-made embellishments, and stamp out titles and journaling.

Recently, though, I've found myself stamping on everything BUT a scrapbook page. So, I had a couple hours yesterday afternoon and I decided to scrap Alaina's 7 month journaling (I've said many times that I scrap "backwards" - rather than start with photos, I start with what I want to say). You can click on each photo to see it in more detail.

What a wonderful time I had, playing with colors and words and images! I love how anything goes in this hobby: there are no rules, there are no scrapbook police who are going to come "get" me for mixing patterns and writing sideways. Ironically, I never did stamp on this layout (that's another thing about me - I rarely plan the end result of a project - I just go with the flow and am usually pleasantly surprised when I'm finished LOL!).


To make the journaling more interesting to read, I wrote it with my Uniball Signo Gel Pen, following the curve of the lemon on the paper (yes, my cardstock had a lemon image on it). When I ran out of room (I'm wordy, you know LOL) I started writing in the margins of my layout. I love my Gel Pen for writing on darker colored cardstock. It really pops and makes the words much easier to read.





Doodles are popular in the papercrafting industry right now. Of course there are stamped images available (Doodle This and Double-Line Doodles are favorites of mine) if you are convinced you can't doodle or just don't want to. But for this layout, I glued down some paper flowers and used my Uniball Signo Gel Pen to draw swirls and dots between the flowers. To illustrate how much I do not plan my projects, I grabbed a handful of the paper flowers, tossed them on my page, and glued them where they fell.









Here's another page element I wanted to show you. I received a tutorial the other day from another Stampin' UP demo, Erika Martin, on embossing shelf liner. I used the technique to make a card (that will be in my next post) and since I had some scraps leftover, I decided to use them on my layout.

To make these embellishments, I pressed the shelf liner into my Versamark pad, coated it with embossing powder, then melted it with my heat gun. I attached a paper flower to it with a brad, then glued it down with a mini glue dot. Don't you just LOVE this look?

This weekend I challenge you to find something ordinary around your house and find a way to incorporate it into your craft project. Maybe you have some old keys lying around - press them into acrylic paint and then "stamp" on your paper with it. Use kitchen string to create a fun photo frame. At this Tuesday's Technique class, we'll be using wax paper on our cards to make a cool resist.

Now go create!
- Nicole

Christmas in August

I know it's usually "Christmas in July", but who really gets ready for it in July anyways? Ok, my grandmother does - wait, she's actually DONE by July - she shops the after Christmas sales for NEXT year's holiday. Grandma always was very organized.

But I digress LOL!


This card was one of the Make & Takes at my Sundae Spectacular back in July (so maybe I can legitimately say "Christmas in July"). I had received the Perfect Presentation set free from Stampin' UP and it's all Christmas stamps. At first I hadn't planned on using it at my event, but then I got my new In Color toys and when I saw the Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi together, I KNEW this was what I wanted to create.

The size of this card is 2-3/4" x 5-1/2". It fits perfectly in a regular letter size envelope or these small open-end envelopes. Another nice thing is that you get 3 of this size from one 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock with just an itty bitty strip leftover.

Using Purely Pomegranate ink, I stamped the star image from Perfect Presentation in a random fashion on the Purely Pomegranate card base. I then cut a 5-1/2" piece of Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon and used SNAIL adhesive on each end to attach it to the card. I stamped the Christmas tree image in Wild Wasabi ink onto Whisper White cardstock. After brushing the edges of it with Purely Pomegranate ink, I glued it to a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock. I then glued the entire piece over top the ribbon and onto the card base.

I thought I was finished at this point, but I sat there staring at it, thinking, "It needs something more." Now, it's very hard for me to make a simple card (it's hard for me to do ANYTHING the simple way, come to think of it. My husband always accuses me of this LOL). So, I was sort of doubting my instinct that it needed "something else". I kept whispering, "Keep it simple, keep it simple." My hand crept towards the Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter jar. I snatched it back, again whispering, "Keep it simple." I picked up the Liquid Glue pen and twirled it in my fingers. Another voice (louder) said, "Must resist!" I then screamed, "I CAN'T!!!!" and ripped the cap off the Liquid Glue, squeezed an outline of it around the Christmas tree, and dumped Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter all over it!!!!!!

After shaking the excess off, I seeing the final result, I realized I'd done the right thing. Glitter was just what it needed! And the best part was it looks like pretty soft snow on the tree! (You can click on the photo to see it in more detail). Lesson learned: Bling makes it better LOL!

Now go create!
- Nicole

Back to the Basics

One question I get asked frequently is, "What do I need to begin stamping?" Having scrapbooked and stamped for over 7 years, I easily forget how overwhelming it can seem when you are just beginning these hobbies. I mean, if I were to take up knitting tomorrow, would I know what I needed to get started? Not at all!

Now I was going to type up a list of the basic essentials, then I had an "ah-ha" moment - I have this handy, dandy blog so why not post a list, complete with pictures? And here it is:



1) Rubber Stamp Cleaning Solution and Cleaning Pad - Good, proper care of your stamps will help them to last a lifetime. The cleaning solution not only cleans ink off your stamps, but also prevents the rubber from drying out and cracking. The cleaning pad has nylon bristles that get into the nooks and crannies of your stamps, greatly aiding in the removal of ink. To use these, lightly spray the solution onto one side of the pad (two or three sprays is enough). Gently rub your stamp on the pad you just sprayed to clean, then gently rub your stamp on the other (unsprayed) pad to dry.

2) Adhesives - There are so many to choose from and what kind to get is a matter of what you are trying to adhere! Good, all-purpose adhesives to start with include tape runners, glue dots, and glue sticks. These will work fine for holding cardstock together. The tape runner will also glue ribbon down to cardstock. Glue dots are great for adding embellishments, too (such as buttons or metal pieces).

3) Trimmer and scissors - At some point, you'll have to cut cardstock. A 12" personal trimmer with an extendable measuring arm is indispensable. It allows you to make straight, clean cuts and to measure your paper right as you cut. Paper trimmers have an optional scoring blade that you can insert in place of the cutting blade (the orange piece in the trimmer in the photo) when you need to make score lines on your paper (I'll talk about scoring a few pictures down). A sharp pair of Paper Snips helps when you want to cut out a stamped image. These scissors are sharp right to the blade tips, which makes getting into tight little places (like between flower petals) a breeze.

4) Cardstock - The foundation of your projects, so choose a high-quality paper! Good cardstock is not only fun to work with, but also more versatile since its thickness allows you to create more than just cards and scrapbook pages. Cardstock is available in rainbows of colors and even in textures! There is nothing lovelier than a stack of richly colored paper LOL! Cardstock generally comes in 2 sizes - 8 1/2x11 and 12x12. Cutting an 8 1/2x11 sheet in half nets you 2 standard sized cards. But that is by no means the only size card you can make!

5) Black Ink Pad and Reinker - The most basic and versatile ink color you can buy. A good black ink pad will be waterproof so you can color your stamped image with a variety of mediums, if you desire. Another important feature of a good black ink pad is having a readily available reinker. Your ink pad will go dry at some point but rather than buying a new one, you can use the inexpensive reinker to "juice up" your dry pad. One reinker bottle will give you more than a few touch-ups, making it very economical. For this reason, it's wise to purchase a matching reinker when you purchase an ink pad.

6) Stamps - The obvious LOL! If you have no stamps, get yourself a versatile set that combines a variety of images and sayings. You do not have to keep the image with its saying, either. You can cut the rubber to separate the image and words and mount them on opposite sides of the same block, or you can ink up just the portion of the stamp you want to use. You could also buy a set with versatile images and a second set of just greetings and phrases.

7) Bone Folder - If you don't have a scoring blade for your paper trimmer, then you'll need a bone folder. What is scoring, though, and why do it? Scoring is making an indented line in a piece of cardstock, with the idea that this will be a fold line (check out a store-bought card). Scoring is important to the overall aesthetics of your project. If you folded paper in half without scoring it first, you would see cracks along the fold line - not very pretty. This is because paper is made of fibers. Scoring breaks the surface layer of fibers for you, so that when you crease the paper, your fold line is smooth and crisp - much prettier!

I hope this little tutorial helps you to ease your way into stamping, if you were feeling overwhelmed. This essentials list is also a good "class kit" - if you bring these things with you to stamping events, you'll find you spend much less time waiting and much more time creating!

Now go create something!

- Nicole