The Stamper

Moving Sale!

Wow, I don't know where I kept all this stuff that I am having to go through and decide what is going into storage in Utah, what is going in the trash, what I want to try and sale and what I will be taking with me to Saudi Arabia.  It has been a huge job just going through this stuff and I appreciate Susan and Tanya for helping me make decisions.  I have to be careful that once I decided to get rid of something I don't walk by it again because I love it so much I goes back into the "what do I do with this stuff" pile. 

I was going through some old samples and ran across this card that I did at several events several years ago and laughed because I did a card like it just a few weeks ago.  I guess some things never change like good card layout ideas.  The card on the right is a preview of Stampin' Up! Awash with Flowers two step stamp set that will be coming out July 1st in the main catalog.  I am excited to see the new catalog and excited to see what things will be retiring on June 1st. 

If you want to see the retirement list and go through all my stuff join me for my Moving Sale, Friday June 11th at 9am-7pm and Saturday June 12th 9am until 7pm my home in Woodstock Georgia. 

More Smooch Spritz ideas

Here are a couple other ideas for what to do with the new Smooch Spritz pearlized sprays Stampin' Up! is carrying in the new Summer Mini catalog. 

I created this marble background for the card of the left with the Silver Foil and Gold Glow Smooch Spritz sprayers.  This technique is fun and easy to do.  I use a report folder or you can tape two window sheets together.  I spray 3 to 4 sprays of each Silver Foil and Gold Glow onto the open folder and then I close it and and rub gently then open it back up.  Place two pieces of Whisper White cardstock back to back and place in folder and then close again.  You will have two backgrounds at once.  You can either place one of the front and inside or used them for two different cards. 

This card was sponged with Black Stazon ink and the new Decor Stencils by Stampin' Up!.  I used the mostly vintage.  I know the black stazon ink appears permanent but you just need to rub over your stencil with Stazon cleaner and wipe with a wash cloth and it will remove the black stain.  I then clean it with a damp cloth to remove any cleaner residue.  The little tag is Stampin' Up!'s new mini vintage tags.  I removed the string and added a brad instead.  The words are from Teeny Tiny Wishes and I inked just the for you using a marker.  Enjoy

Smooch Spritz Log Cabin

I love these new Smooch Spritz pearlized accent sprays Stampin' Up! put into their new summer mini catalog.  I have had fun playing with them before my Weekend at Wendy's a few weeks ago.  I think the Log Cabin is my favorite color.  It looks so different depending on the color of the background paper you spray it on.  On this card it looks gold because it was sprayed on black cardstock.  If you spray black with the Gold Smooch Spritz it looks almost florescent gold where the Log Cabin gives me a great gold look that blends perfectly with the gold embossing I did here. 

I cut a Big Shot Top Note from black cardstock and Spritzed it with Log cabin.  I then sponged the new Mostly Vintage stencil with Versamark ink and then added Gold embossing powder and heated it.  I made a flower by punching flowers from our brushed gold cardstock and getting them wet, scrunched them up and opened them, layered them and added a gold brad to hold them together and onto the card. 

The background is Stampin' Up!'s new Square Lattice textured impressions folder.  I really like the look this folder gives you and it is like getting two in one because when you use it upside down it changes textures.  To order the products shown here go to my Stampin' Up! website http://wendythestamper.stampinup.net

Vanilla Elements of Style

This card is so elegant and not too hard to make.  I edged a vanilla note card along two sides with the scallop border punch and corner punch.  I stamped with Black Stazon ink the flowers from Stampin' Up!'s Element of Style Stamp set and water colored them with pretty in pink and Old olive inks.  I then sprayed the whole card with the new Vanilla Shimmer smooch Spritz that can be fount in the summer mini catalog to give it a pearled look.  I add a bow using Stampin' Up! 5/8" satin ribbon and created a tag with a round punch and the for you stamp in the Elements of Style stamp set. 

Overwelmed!

It is amazing how in just a few weeks your life can go from normal everyday to something you don't even recognize anymore.  I guess that is what has happen to me.  For those of you who follow me you know that I have not posted in a week.

It is not because I have not been in my craft room handling paper and more paper and more paper.  I  have been going through 15 years of samples. (I had over 20 boxes of different sizes and shapes filled to the brim with 3-d projects, card samples, 12x12 scrapbooking pages and that is the stuff that has already been stamped on) You might ask why I would do such a thing since I have never done such a complete job in the past.  (I promise you I have cleaned out every 6 months or so along the way but never looked at everything I just thought I had to save before). 

Well, here is why... Ted has a job offer from an oil company called Aramco and if all goes well we will be moving in July.  I know, I know I have moved many times in the past but never like this.  The job will move us to Saudi Arabia.  If you are like me it might take you a few minutes or weeks to get your head around that one.  We will be living on the Persian Gulf in an Americanized camp (it's a small city).  I will still be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, (I got the approval from SU! on Friday).  I will still have this blog and will be able to sell on line to any and all of you my customers as well as have workshops when I come back to the states.  The problem lies in that fact that we will have to ship our "stuff" slow boat to Arabia and we are limited on how much weight we can take.  (I hate to guess that even after cleaning out my craft room the bulk of the weight will be in crafting supplies.. ha ha)

Well, I have promised a few of my customers that heard about this possibility a couple weeks ago that I would put more personal stuff on my blog.  They want pictures and information about Arabia and the lifestyle there.  So for those of you I am raising my right hand and promising to do that.  (We had to raise our right hand today getting passports for my younger daughters so I thought I would do that here).

In cleaning out I decided to create this page.  It was using an old 2 page spread I have had stacked here to use someday and an email my daughter sent me one night that touched my heart.  I really miss this daughter.  She is serving a Spanish speaking church mission and they were planning to keep her in Arizona until August 19th but with all the changes going on with us they are letting her come home on her early transfer so she will be home July 8th.  Yea!  We will be moving soon after.  The page uses Rose Romance cardstock, for those of you who are old like me... that was a color they discontinued last time SU! made a color change and a stamp set I can't even remember it's name.  I do love the pocket I tucked journaling into.  It was perfect for this page that the major part of the journaling is the email from my daughter and yet I wanted to add my personal thoughts as well. 

For those of you who are interested, some of my scrapbooking two-page spreads are now available for purchase at my other blog http://wowscrapbookkits.wordpress.com and I hope to get some listed here as well in the near future. 

Stampin' Up! Sweet Scoops

Stampin' Up! created a sweet little stamp set called Sweet Scoops for the Summer mini catalog.  When I first say this set it brought back so many memories.  Years and years ago, (yes, I am getting old, I had proof this week when I went to the eye doctor and he informed me that I could not see as well as I thought I could, I had to get bi-focals on my first trip to the eye doctor, I told him I was not old enough for bi-focals, I was just trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that I might need glasses.)  Anyway back to this stamp set, years and years ago Stampin' Up! had a ice cream cone bold stamp set that they asked me to use in a demo I did on stage at convention.  I felt like I needed to do something creative with it and i turned it upside down and created a bear clown.  It was a hit and this sweet little set is even better to design with that the old stamp set was. 

Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Scoops stamp set has two different cones, and two different ice cream toppers, it has sprinkles and a cheery and then a small square stamp that looks like a Zebra print. It could be used for Zebras but it is designed to to two step stamp you ice cream so it looks like it was hand scooped. 

The card to the left is Melon Mambo & close to cocoa cardstocks and inks.  I used Stampin' Up!'s Square Lattice Impressions Embossing Folder for the texture on the card.  I love this folder because you have use it right side up or upside down and you get two different looks depending on which way you use it.  I used it upside down on this card because the design is less busy that way.   

The card of the right is So Saffron, Chocolate Chip and Mellon Mambo Cardstocks and inks.  I cut out the So Saffron ice cream scoop and used dimensionals to attach it to the card.  I also used Ittly Bitty Backgrounds for the accents.  

You can order anytime or if you want to play with these stamps in person join me for one of my upcoming classes.  I have a hands on class this Friday night at 7:30pm we will be making 4 projects and the cost is $15.00.  I hope to see or hear from you soon.

Go Graduate by Stampin' Up!

I love new stamp sets and this is another new stamp set that can be found in the new Summer Mini catalog called Go, Graduate by Stampin' Up!.  This card is one I made for a exchange I do with my cruise friends. 

I used Real Real has the card base and the Grooms paper cut 4 x 5 1/4 with a 1 3/8" square punch punched in the top middle, tie ribbon bow around black cardstock then glue onto card front.  I then layered the card open on a cutting matt and using the hobby blade I cut an "X" into the red cardstock front.  Fold red cardstock triangles over grooms paper and attach with dimensionals.  I cut a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of whisper white cardstock and glued it into the inside of card and stamped the graduation hat through the window.  I added a "go you" stamped on whisper white cardstock and punched with the jewerlry tag punch behind the ribbon with a glue dot. 

I love the black embossed look the grooms paper gives this card. Enjoy.

Stampin' Up! Tropical Party

I was sitting at my desk with Stampin' Up!'s new stamp set called Tropical Party that is in the Summer Mini catalog and I was thinking about all my stamping friends we have share many tropical vacation spots with over the years because of Stampin' Up!'s incentive trips and decided to create a quick card to send to a couple of them just letting them know I was thinking about them.  This is the card I created. 

I love the way the sun looks as it goes down and the shadow the palm trees become.  I am sure this happens at home with the trees in our area but I don't very often take the time to notice.  It seems that about the time the sun reaches this stage we are busy with homework, dinner, last minute work things or me hurrying to a workshop or preparing for one here at home so I miss the feeling this card reminds me of. 

To create the sun I punched a 1 3/4" circle from a piece of scrap cardstock (keep this larger than the card so you don't sponge over the edges on accident). I then sponged the full circle opening with So Saffron ink, then 1/2 of the circle opening with Pumpkin Pie ink, then 1/4 of the circle opening with Bravo Burgundy ink. I then stamped the Palm tree with Black Stazon ink.   The card is Pumpkin Pie, layered with the Island Oasis Designer Series Paper (new in Summer Mini), Black cardstock with a linen thread accent.   

To create the layered look for the Modern label punch I cut a black accent piece using the Mover's and Shapers Big Shot die and the Punch window accent dies.  I love how you can create frames for a lot of Stampin' Up! punch shapes using the Big Shot Mover's and Shapers Die and accent dies.  I think I use it more this way than as a window opening. 

Stampin' Up! Tropical Party window card

Stampin' Up! has a new summer mini catalog and Tropical party is one of the new stamp sets found in this catalog.  I have played with the set a little and really like it.  The card I have made are bright and cheerful.  I think this stamp set is perfect for party invitations, or any thinking of you or best wishes. 

This window style card is easy to create.  I stamped the images and punched them with a 1 1/4" square punch and layered them with different color cardstock 1 3/8" square punches.  I then layered them on a large chocolate chip square of cardstock for a window effect.  I stamped the small flower on whisper white cardstock and layered it onto one of the punched images.  Card is pumpkin pie cardstock with a 3/8" melon mambo strip and dusty durango dot ribbon.  In a card Shelli Gardner had on her blog she folded back the dotted ribbon like I did here and I loved the look of the plain ribbon side showing over the dotted side.  I added a large chocolate brad.  The ink colors I used are, chocolate chip, old olive, melon mambo, so saffron and pumpkin pie.  Notice I stamped with pumpkin pie ink with the palm leaf on the cardstock background for a watermark look. 

You can order this stamp set by emailing me or order directly from my stampin' up web site:  wendythestamper.stampinup.net

Stampin' Up! Island Oasis

Stampin Up! new mini catalog have these adorable Island Oasis Party Favor Boxes Item # 117178.  They are so cute and can be put together so they look like this little present with the band (I added the molded flower) or they can be put together so they look like a Chinese Box.  You get twelve, six dots and six stripes. 

This was one of the project I created for my downline meeting this past weekend.  The flowers are so easy to make.  I used the jumbo flower punch, this punch was in the Occasion mini catalog and they are still available, Yea!

Punch 4 flowers using extra large punch from cardstock or designer paper and one circle using 1 3/8” or 1 1/4” circle punches.    Lay flowers and circles on window sheet and spray with water.  Turn punched images over and spray the other side of the cardstock flower so it is quite moist.    Lay paper flower  in your hand and press in the center and then crumple into a ball.    Gentle open flower and smooth it out and then crumple again if needed for extra texture.  Open again, set aside.  Repeat process with all flowers and the circle.   Punch center of flowers and circle with 1/16” circle punch or paper piercing tool.    Put brad through circle then 3 flowers and open.  (you can use this brad to attach the flower to your finished project if desired.  While flowers are still damp pull circle up and crumple around the brad. Repeat with each flower layer then open them up gently to form the desired look.  Let dry.  These will harden once they are completely dry. 

Stampin' Up! Elements of Style

May is here and if you are like me you can't believe April is over and the school year is coming to a close.  The change of the month also brings changes for Stampin' Up! The Occasions mini catalog period is over and we have a new Summer Mini catalog.  This past weekend I had a Weekend at Wendy's for my downline (you will hear more about this later this week when I have recovered a little) and I sat down and created many samples using the new summer mini catalog products and I must say I am thrilled with the new stamp sets, new products that you can use to create fun new techniques I can't wait to share these with all of you. 

Stampin' Up!'s stamp set Elements of Style is in Shelli Gardner's, owner of Stampin' Up!'s, collection and new in the Summer Mini catalog even though we received it at Leadership in January.  It is a beautiful stamp set that you can create very vintage and elegant cards and projects with but fun and light hearted items as well.  The card to the left is created with Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede and Whisper White Cardstock.  I used the markers to ink up the background and the circle scissors to create the thin open circle from Soft Suede cardstock.  I added a little Rich Razzleberry background papers to back the greeting and stamped and cut out the hummingbird and layered him with a dimensional. 

The card on the right was copied from a good friend of mine, Karen Barber.  Karen and I served together on Stampin' Up!'s Advisory board.  She has a very Elegant Style and she titled this card China Roses.  When I first saw this card I thought to myself she cut the rose design out, that must have been hard.  But I loved the card so much I decided to try and I found that the design cuts very easily using just my snips.  I love the texture background that was created using the Impressing folder and the Big Shot die cut machine.  Karen added white gel pen accents to the center of the roses and layered the stamp image on an oval cardstock base and then onto the textured card. 

I finished off the Roses with a new product called Smooch Spritz Very Vanilla spray.  This product adds a shimmery pearled look which I thought fit the style of this card. I also wanted the bow to be Always Artichoke so I took the new 5/8" Stain Ribbon in white and died it by running it over an ink pad using a sponge and letting it dry.  The stain ribbon take the classic ink really well and the inked lines smooth out as it dries. 

To order this stamp set you can contact me by email at wendy@thestamper.com or you can order directly from my Stampin' Up! web site at http://wendythestamper.stampinup.net