Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Another Thanksgiving Post

From Heidi...

This is a hybrid card I created for one of our upcoming classes...I've used digital stamped leaves along with a hand stamped sentiment and then built the card like I would a hand stamped card. The leaf is one of the digital stamp sets included in My Digital Studio. I am finding myself using MDS more and more...not only for convenience sake, but it allows new avenues of creativity, as well. I shared this program last night at a workshop I hosted...It was fun to share the digital fun with others.
This card is one that we'll be making in our October 5 Tumbleweed class. If you'd like to sign up, visit the City of Chandler's Park and Recreation site to register. (319TW.130 - 10AM-Noon class; 320TW.130 - 7-9 PM class)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Brand New Coupon Organizers

From Adriel:

Finally, the moment has arrived!
I finally got some coupon organizers done!


These have been sitting half-finished for quite awhile.
It feels so good to have completed them.
It's a nice feeling to get something done. =)
Look for them soon in our Etsy shop!
Have a wonderful day!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Simple & Quick Card

From Adriel:

Picture this: You need a card... like NOW! What do you do?
  • You cut a piece of Night of Navy CS to 5-1/2"W x 8-1/2"L and score lengthwise @ 4-1/4" and fold in half. You're halfway there... okay, bad pun... sorry! =)
  • You round the corners of your card base.
  • You run a piece of 5-1/4" x 4" Sahara Sand CS through your Big Shot machine with the lattice embossing folder. You round the corners of this piece.
  • You adhere this to the front of your card.
  • You find a scrap of texture brown CS... maybe it's Soft Suede? You're not sure what color it is or if it is even Stampin' Up! CS... it doesn't matter... you've got enough to send through the Big Shot machine with the Little Leaves die.
  • You find a scrap of Whisper White CS and stamp "a little something" from the Matchbox Messages stamp set in Night of Navy ink, which you then punch out with (I think) a 1-3/8" circle punch.
  • You adhere the "mystery brown" Little Leaves die cut to the front of the card.
  • You attach your punched circle sentiment using a dimensional to the front of the card.
  • Of course, you don't want this looking like you whipped it up in like 5 minutes or something, so you add a couple of brads.
Your card now looks something like this!

And that took, what, 5 minutes? Okay, 6 minutes with the brads.
It is completely possible to make a decent looking card in under 10 minutes!
I've gotta admit that the Big Shot makes this possible, for me anyway.
The texture just adds that "umph" that would be missing if it wasn't there.

(This story is based on actual events. Names have been omitted to protect identity... who am I kidding?)

Hope your week is getting off to a great start! Thanks for visiting! =)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

More Reversed Masking

From Heidi...
If you saw Adriel's last post, my card today was inspired by her sponged Little Leaves background. She had actually sponged a Little Leaves background on Crumb Cake CS several weeks ago but hadn't gotten any further than that. Every time I went into the craft room, there it was sitting on the table crying out, "Use me!" Well, I didn't use her background (although I was tempted several times), but I went ahead and sponged another one on Crumb Cake and made this Thanksgiving card for one of our upcoming classes in October. We'll try and share our upcoming cards here over the next few weeks. I'm really looking forward to our classes at Tumbleweed and my house (Tuesday, 10/19) in October. We have some very cool looking cards coming up along with a fun technique called Faux Linen. We'd love to have you join us.

Classes and dates at Tumbleweed Recreation Center are as follows:
Thanksgiving-themed cards
319TW.130 - Tuesday, 10/5, 10am-Noon
320TW.130 - Tuesday, 10/5, 7-9 PM
Faux-Linen technique
321TW.130 - Tuesday, 10/12, 10am-Noon
322TW.130 - Tuesday, 10/12, 7-9 PM

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Little Leaves Sponged Card

From Adriel:

I had some flowers leftover from the watercolor spread technique I talked about in this post. I couldn't let them go to waste! =)

I used the reverse masking technique from the Little Leaves sizzlet die and sponging to create the background for my card. I love how the sponged leaves create such a lovely background on this simple card. Sometimes less is more.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Retired Thank You's

From Heidi...




I needed a bunch of "Thank You" cards to give out to all the thoughtful people in my life, and thought that I would challenge myself to use all retired Stampin' Up! products...even the stamp set. So, this is what I came up with. "Wow Flowers" is such a fun stamp set, wish it wasn't a retired set. Thanks for looking, we appreciate all of you.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Another Christmas Card

From Adriel:

Yes, I know it's only September, but I've got another Christmas card to share with you today! =)

I used Stampin' Up! DSP from last year that we still have quite a bit of. I don't mind... I like this paper a lot. =) The punched sentiment from the "Perfect Punches" set is embossed with silver embossing powder. It's super shiny!! And that organza ribbon is one of my favorites!

I've got an all-out assault planned for our Etsy shop next month. This card will be in our shop then! =)

Have a wonderful day! =)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Happy Anniversary

From Heidi...
Thanks to all the Happy Birthday well-wishers...I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Everyone in my family made me a card this year...and they were all very different. I love the card Adriel made for me, which she posted yesterday. Love the color combo and sponging :-) Love Adriel, too!
On another note, my husband and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary a few days ago. Wow, where did the time go? We met up in California's wet and rainy Northcoast area and now we live in Arizona's dry and arid desert...talk about a drastic change. I'm thankful for him... for his kindness, for his faithfulness, for always taking care of me, and for his friendship. And I'm most thankful for his faith in God, which has been such an encouragement to me...I hope I get to spend another 31 years with him.

Here's a little card I made him...He is "My Kind Friend" with "dear" and "wonderful" tucked in there. Thanks for letting me share!

CS: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, DSP
Big Shot: Textured Impression Square Lattice
Stamp Set: All Holidays
Ink: Stampin' Write markers: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, River Rock, Crumb Cake

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

From Adriel:

My mom's birthday was yesterday! We celebrated by eating lunch at Paradise Bakery (their Tomato Basil soup and Chopped BBQ Chicken salad are amazing!!), dinner at the Olive Garden, and homemade sundaes for dessert! (I love the benefits of birthdays, ie - eating out).

I appreciate my mom very much. She does not just care for me physically (watching kids, inviting us for dinner, taking care of business stuff, etc), but she also cares for me spiritually. She has a love for God's word and a passion for pursuing godliness that encourages my heart. She always has something to share about the Lord because she fills herself with His word. I am blessed to have a mom like her! =)


Here's the birthday card I made for my mom. This was my second attempt. My first attempt turned out terrible (in my opinion) and I just couldn't bring myself to give it to my mom. Kayla saved it from the garbage, saying she would give it to me sometime. (She's a sweetie!) Anyway, I was much more pleased with my second attempt. =)

Stamp sets: Because I Care, Vintage Labels
Paper: Cherry Cobbler CS, Early Espresso CS, Very Vanilla CS
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Accessories: 1" square punch, adhesive rhinestones, sponge, Stampin' dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your day is going well. =)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Upcoming Cards

From Heidi...
Last night we had our Bold and Bright class at Tumbleweed...we had lots of fun with everyone. I thought I'd share some of our cards for the rest of this month's upcoming classes. The theme for this month's card is the Top Note die. We'll be offering the Top Note class on 2 days...Tuesday, 9/14 at Tumbleweed Recreation Center (317TW.130, 10AM and 318TW.130, 7PM) and Tuesday, 9/21 at my house (10AM, 1:30PM, 7PM). We'd love to have you join us!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Button Christmas Card + Holiday Link Party

From Adriel:

There's a holiday link party at the end of this post! Link up your holiday goodies, and by that I mean anything you've been working on, be it baking, crafting, sewing... you get the picture! Here's what I've been working on.

I finished up this Christmas card last week. I was waiting on the snowflake punch, which came and it finished off the card. My mom was the one who said it needed the snowflake... she is a genius! =)

You can't tell in the picture, but I spritzed the snowflake with some shimmer mist. I think the buttons add some charm to this card. The color combo for this card is conducive to "charming" and "cute-sy". ;-)

It was kind of hard having to get into "Christmas" gear in August. My mom did most of the holiday creating. This was my small contribution. We'll be making this card and others at a card class coming up in the next couple of months. It is already September, so I guess it's about time to get ready for the holidays. =)

Linked up with:

Have you been working on anything related to the holidays coming up? Link up below! The only guideline is that submissions be family-friendly! No other strings attached! =)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

August Color Challenge Submissions

Here's the submissions we received for last month's color challenge!
All of them are from one of our regular stampers, Crystal!
She really went to town!
Check out her cute cards!
This was Crystal's favorite out of the 4 she made. It is cute, isn't it? =)
Crystal used the masking technique on this card. Way to go, Crystal! =)


Thanks for sending your pics to us, Crystal!

We've got a new color challenge up for September.
Click on the picture below for all the details.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

September Newsletter and Free Tutorials

Our September Newsletter has been published and is uploaded for you to view. It includes our September classes, upcoming events and a fun craft project for you to try out.
We've also posted a couple of free card tutorials to make. We made these cards at a workshop last week, so for those of you that were there, simply click on the highlighted links and you'll have access to the tutorials. Hope you have fun with them!
Click on Crumb Cake Thanks for link to tutorial