Still Stamping

Thoughts & Prayers - Monochromatic with some Zip

As I told you yesterday, I'm greatly inspired by the stamping artwork of other people.  I'm guessing the same is true for you, since you're reading my blog.  The card below is very quick and easy. 

The base is Bermuda Blue card stock.  On the left is an accent strip of Bermuda Bay, but this time it is the solid color side of a sheet of Print Series designer paper, embossed with the Finial Press texture folder and the Big Shot, and then sanded with the sanding block.  Another textural element is the pierced circle, created by using the Classy Brass stencil, Punches Plus, and the paper piercing tool.  The colored circle is sponged through a reverse mask punched with the 1-1/4" circle punch.  And the stamp sets are Thoughts & Prayers and Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The inspiration was this card that I received from Mary Haden, one of my lovely Canadian roommates at Convention.  Mary attributes her inspiration to Connie Babbert.  Isn't it wonderful how demonstrators love to share?  "Inspire, Create, Share"  It's part of the Stampin' Up! company tag line, and it was this year's Convention theme.

Circle Circus Meets Razzleberry Lemonade

Those of you who follow Stampin' Up! blogs know how exciting the annual Convention is for demonstrators.  One of the highlights for many is the "swapping" of cards, 3-D projects, scrapbook pages, techniques, and all sorts of other goodies.  I find a lot of inspiration from these swapped items when I get back home, and my stamping friends love looking at them, too.  For Monday's Stampers Six Club meeting, I selected two of the cards I received in swaps and used them as two of our projects for this month, making some changes, of course.  Here's the card we made:

And here's the original version that I received from Cheryl Flynn during a swap:

Obviously, I changed the orientation from portrait to landscape.  I also layered the greeting and added the word window punch.  The really fun thing at Monday's club was seeing how each stamper arranged the stamped/punched elements to personalize her card. 

Stamp sets:  Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry

DSP: Razzleberry Lemonade

Top Note die, ribbon, and lots and lots of punches!

Tomorrow I'll share another of the cards we made along with the original swap card I received.

Fun with Flip Flops

When my Stampers Six Club saw the flip flops I embellished using Fun Foam and my Big Shot dies, they immediately asked me "When are WE going to make those?"  Yesterday was the day!  Each brought a pair of unadorned flip flops, and we got down to business cranking out lots of assorted flowers in bright colors of fun foam.

  

Above, left to right, are Kathy Thompson and Cheri Hess.  And here's Rose Donharl on the right.  And they agreed to model their finished creations for you, too!

Cheri wins the prize for bling; her flip flops were pink and metallic gold, and she found some fun foam covered with glitter! 

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Have a Happy Big Shot Day!     Carol Taggart, Hanover, PA

Finial Press Distress

 I love Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Papers and use them frequently on my projects.  You just can't beat the coordinating colors and the superior quality of the papers.  There is one that kind of had me stumped, though, and that's the solid sheet in the Print Series package of paper (this one is in Dusty Durango).  The reverse side of the paper isn't exactly my favorite, either, so I had to come up with a way to use it.

Finial Press texture folder and a sanding block to the rescue!  Because the core of the DSP is white, when the surface color is sanded off, the white shows through.  And the Big Shot embossing folders create such great raised texture that it's super simple to sand off just the top of the design and reveal a cool two-tone dimensional pattern.

     

Here's a second version of the other, using exactly the same supplies.  Recognize the stamp set?  It's Close as a Memory.  The little greetings are from Teeny Tiny Wishes, a real value at just $36.95 for 24 useful sentiments.  The contrasting card stock and ink are another of the new In Colors, Soft Suede.  Did you know that the In Colors are now available as markers?  That made it possible for me to ink up the stamp precisely with the colors I wanted where I wanted them.

Until next time,

Carol Taggart, Hanover, PA