Disneyland Trip

From Adriel:

I got back a couple of days ago from a 5-day Disneyland trip with my family. I think we got enough Disneyland to last us for awhile! LOL! =) We had a great time spending time together and just having fun. That sounds kind of shallow, but the time together relaxing was so good for us! =)

I just wanted to share a few pictures of our trip with you...

We got to see Mickey!

The kids got lollipops!

Goofy & Friends!

In line for the Finding Nemo submarine ride.

Got a bunch more, but that's enough! =)

It is amazing how great Disneyland looks after all these years. It looks the same (with additional rides and attractions, of course) as it did when I was a kid. Music is playing everywhere and it's so clean. Every night after the fireworks on Main Street, there's this mouse-shaped confetti all over the street. They have vacuums and clean it all up every night! They create the same amazing experience every day for new customers. The crowd control people are calm and patient, even though the crowd is not. Almost every employee that I had contact with was pleasant. How do they do it?!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're all having a nice weekend! =)

Pickup load of watercolor

From Heidi...
I haven't used our Loads of Love pickup for awhile. But with our watercolor class coming up, I thought it would be a great stamp to use with the blender pens. I cased the idea for this layout from SCS and then changed the colors, papers, and embellishments. The SU DS paper is retired and is several years old, but I thought this paper would work well for this card. I used Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy. Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Pink and Blue

From Heidi...
I'm sorry that this picture isn't edited, but I wanted to share this flower and card today and I'm short on time. I made a 3x3 card to set this pink Embossed Reinker Spread flower onto, so that the flower would be the largest focal point. It got lost on anything larger. I machine-stitched 2 irregular rows of stitching and used my Old Olive marker to draw a thin line inbetween them to create a stem for the flower. It's a simple card, but I love the Navy and Pink together. Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Embossed Fifth Avenue Watercolored Flower

From Heidi...
I showed you this Fifth Avenue Rose several weeks ago, but at the time I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. I came up with this card and I love how the rose fits so nicely on it... which is one of several cards we'll be making in our upcoming watercolor class at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center next month. Aren't these great colors together (Night of Navy, Almost Amethyst and Blush Blossom)? This technique is the Embossed Reinker Spread that so many have been playing around with. It's a wonderful technique that makes a beautiful central focus for a card.

Razzleberry Watercolor Wash

From Heidi...
We have a watercolor class coming up next month, so I thought I'd share a few of the cards I've been working on for it. This is the card we'll be making for the Watercolor Wash technique. I white embossed the retired "Happy Harmony" flower stamp before getting out my water spritzer, Aqua Painter. I used the new In-Colors, Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango, for the wash. I can't wait to share this card for our upcoming class. My inspiration for this card came from pouring through all the wonderful cards on SCS. The Dew Drops on the bottom of the card are the ones I made with my hot glue gun...they came out great!
Thanks for looking...have a great Monday!

Soft Suede Circle Circus

From Heidi...

I'm still just playing around with some of the new SU stuff we bought. This is the new stamp set called "Circle Circus" that we pre-ordered and have been playing around with. The idea for this card came from Beth on SCS, you can view her card here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1377683

I used the new In-Color Soft Suede and stamped with Versamark, Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa. The more I use the new In-Colors, I'm finding (at least for my preference) that they need some white to make them pop. I stamped one of the larger stamps several times in different colors, punching out pieces of them with varying sizes of circle punches. I used a Build-a-brad for the very center. Thanks for letting me share!

A Shout Out!

From Adriel:

I don't want to turn our blog into a place just to feature all kinds of other Etsy sellers, because let's be honest, our followers began following us because they like to see what we're up to! That being said, an occasional shout out about another Etsy seller can be justified given certain variables. How do we decide this, you ask? I'm not really sure that there's a formula, but here's a couple of reasons I thought of that would make a shout out justified:

1. The wares in the shop are so wonderful, that it would be selfish not to let someone else know about the shop! =D

2. The wares in the shop can be incorporated into our craft, and may possibly be of interest to other crafters/artists. (Again, shouldn't keep this to ourselves!) =D

Can you tell I really want to share another Etsy shop with you? I'm trying to find excuses to! LOL!

The Etsy shop I'd like to share with you is called Flowery Bliss. They have a cute little shop, but what I was most excited to find were their crochet flowers. If you're a card maker, you've seen people put these little crochet flowers on cards and use them for embellishing. You've probably also seen the price of these things through retail stores and such! "Yah... um, I think I can live without that..." That's why I was so excited to find this store with their large assortment of these darling little crochet flowers at a VERY reasonable price! I just had to share it... couldn't keep it to myself AND the wares incorporate with my craft and they just might with yours as well, so again, HAD to share... it would be selfish of me not to! heehee! I think it's safe to say that this shop meets ALL the requirements for a shout out!

Don't worry... I'm not being paid to tell you about them or anything, I just think they deserved a shout out! Very cute shop, very cute product... save some for us!!! ;-)

The Last Tea Bag Book

From Heidi..Here's my last share of tea bag books...although, after Adriel's post on photography I'm a little shy at posting my photographs. My disclaimer is that I haven't visited the blogsite that Adriel posted...I will, but I've already got my photos ready to post. So view these as my BEFORE photos (haha).

I used the Ruffle Edge Technique that came from Jan Tinklenberg on this tea book. I must say that gathering fabric is a whole lot easier than gathering paper. I really like how the ruffle turned out, but I haven't decided whether or not I enjoyed the technique...I got a little frustrated with it, so I have to factor that in, as to whether it's something I want to do a lot of. I haven't tried it again, so it's obviously not one of those things that I really loved doing.

If you'd like to try it, here's brief instructions on how to do it.

(Supplies - Crimper, 1"x12" strip of DS paper, Scallop Edge Punch, Sticky Strip, CS oval, circle, or other shape...and patience!)

-Use a 1"x12" strip of DS paper and scallop punched one long edge of the strip.

-Run the scalloped strip through the crimper.

-Place sticky strip on the backside of a CS shape, to which the ruffle will be attached. Don't try and make the sticky strip nice and smooth, it will look bumpy, especially if you're going around a circle or oval shape.

-Peel off the sticky strip backing on your CS.

-Start pleating your scalloped, crimped DS strip of paper and as the tutorial I used says, "Start sticking..." and adhering your pleated sections onto the sticky strip of your CS back.

-Continue to pleat and gather evenly the DS strip, keeping it nice and even all the way around your CS shape until you come to the end. Simply trim off the excess.

If you try this, let me know how it turned out for you and if you came up with any "tricks" to evenly sticking it on the CS. Thanks again for visiting us!

Brayered In-Color Top-Note Card

From Heidi...
I've had a lot of ideas that I've been wanting to get to, but haven't had the time. This afternoon I was finally able to play around with some of the new In-Colors. I thought brayering would be a fun challenge to use to try out a few of the colors together and see how they looked. I also got to use Adriel's Big Shot, so that was fun, too. This is what I came up with.
I love SU's new Soft Suede CS. I lightly sponged the outside top-note frame with black which gave the brown an almost leathery look...kind of cool. I'd seen a tutorial on how to make your own Dew Drops, so I tried that out and ended up putting several on this card. I really like how all the colors look together, I'm looking forward to playing with the other colors. Fun, fun, fun!

Here's the supplies I used:
Ink:
Dusty Durango (Brayering)
Rich Razzleberry (Brayering)
Pretty in Pink (Brayering)
Old Olive (Brayering)
Basic Black (for stamping greeting and sponging leaves and frame)

Stamp Set:
Sincere Salutations


CS:
Soft Suede
Kraft for card base


Accessories:
Big Shot: Top Note; Birds and Blooms
Dew Drops
Brayer
Sponge

Sideoats & Scribbles Weekly Challenge #2

From Adriel:

If you've been following our blog for awhile, you probably know that I'm a sucker for an occasional challenge, and if you know anything about Generation Y, they like challenges... I learned that at a corporate road show recently that Gary and I went to for Tropical Smoothie Cafe... and, back to the challenge. Right, so I like to participate in challenges every now and then, depending on how much time I have and if I feel like it (rambling again!)... I found this new challenge on sideoatsandscribbles through kwerner's blog that is a great challenge! Lisa has a tutorial each week on how to make your pictures look better. Then, you make a card and use her tutorial to make the picture look better and you submit your before and after. The day I found the challenge, I had just finished a card with white in it (that was one of the requirements for entering this week), so I already had a card made and had taken pictures of it. Sooooo, here's the pics:

BEFORE

Totally gloomy and dull and lifeless... I even hate sharing it because it's so ugly! Can someone say "Blah!" ... thank you! =P

Let's move on, shall we?

AFTER
It's better... I can't say that I'm completely satisfied with it, but it's much better than the first! Whew! =)

And just for the fun of it...
I added a bit more brightness and contrast to the "After". This one is my favorite. =)

Anyway, go visit Lisa's blog and check out her AMAZING photography and her tutorials. I'm sure you'll see an improvement in your pictures just by following her first 2 tips! =)
Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by and joining us for another creative discovery.

Edited to add that I forgot to add my Stampin' Up! copyright text to my images... sorry! All stamped images and DS paper are copyright Stampin' Up!. =)

Another Set of Gift Tags

From Adriel:



I'm showing off these gift tags today. Cute, huh? =D

A couple of weeks ago, I found a YouTube video for making the shabby flowers with the scallop circle punch. I showed you that one already... if you missed the post, click HERE for my tutorial and a link to the video. Anyway, I found another video the same day (or the day after) on making handmade lollipop flowers. I'd love to share the video, but YouTube wasn't working when I wrote this post... I will have to add the link later. =)

UPDATE: YouTube started working but the video I watched is now private! WHAAAT? Anyway, found this video that is not nearly as good, but it will give you an idea of what to do along with my tips at the bottom! =) View video HERE.

Here's what I ended up doing to make my lollipop flowers: Instead of cutting circles out by hand, I just used 3 different sizes of circle punches. I did distress the edges of each circle with scissors... I don't have a distressing tool at the moment. I crumpled up each circle so it looks really distressed! Then, I applied ink to the edges of each circle. I used Chocolate Chip ink to distress the edges instead of the circles instead of white paint. I used Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive to attach the layers together. All I had available was a spray bottle with water, so I spritzed each flower lightly (very lightly) and then "molded" each layer how I wanted it. Once it dries, it's very stiff so the flower keeps its shape very well. I added half-pearls to the center of each flower and attached my flowers with pop-up glue dots to my gift tags. =)


Thanks for stopping by!

Yart Finds

From Adriel:

A lot of Etsy shops have some great sales going on... here's just a few great deals I found:

Beautiful earrings from mrsfatface:

A cute bag from BeckyKayDesigns:

Pretty Lampwork Discs from LindenAvenueDesigns:

Fun Fiesta Earrings from julylamoon:

Lovely 8x10 Photograph from eyefulAren't all of these Yart finds AWESOME?!?! That's all I've got for now, but there's a TON more Yart items on Etsy... just visit Etsy and search for "yart". You'll get tons of items to check out!

Yart Sale Day #2

We are participating in the Yart Sale on Etsy that began on June 10th and runs through the weekend, ending June 14th.

We've got a special section in our shop with a bunch of items that are discounted... some up to 40% off!! Here's just a few items that are on sale right now... there's a bunch more HERE.

Take a look:

Cute Circle Note Cards, Set of 5, only $5!!

Handmade Greeting Cards, like this one, for $1.75 each!

File Folder Organizers, only $20... discount of $5!!

Lots more in our shop and we plan on adding more Yart items as the sale progresses!

Another Tea Bag Book

From Heidi...
Here's another tea bag book that I made a few weeks ago. This is one of my favorites. I like the soft blue and the weathered vintage look. I sanded the edges of the DS paper and used tearing and inking the edges to distress parts of the flower centerpiece. This is SU's "Bella Birds" DS paper. Hope you're having a great start to your week!

Yart Sale on Etsy!

We are participating in the Yart Sale on Etsy sponsored by Team ESST, June 10-14. We've got a special Yart Sale section with discounted items HERE. Be sure to check it out and also all the great deals that other Etsy shops are doing for the Yart Sale! You don't want to miss it!

Some other shops that are participating in the Yart Sale for you to check out:

Delight Designs

MBW Photography

Erika Price Designs

Blueberry Cream

KreatedbyKarina

AJ's Country Cottage

June SAS: Technique Focus on Heat Embossing

Here are the beautiful cards we plan on making at this month's Technique Focus Stamp-a-Stack. Our technique focus will be on heat embossing and we will also be doing a color focus of black, white and gray. As you can see, these cards are classy!

Technique Focus Stamp-a-Stack

Tuesday, June 16th

At Heidi's house in Chandler

(directions given after registering)

3 cards for $10

Two times to choose from:

1pm - 3pm

7pm - 9pm

The evening class is almost full, so if you're interested in joining us in the evening, sign up soon! You can email us at twohappystampers@gmail.com to let us know you are interested in coming or if you have any questions about our classes. Hope to see you there!

Shabby Flower Tutorial

From Adriel:

This tutorial is featured in our newsletter this month. I wanted to share it on our blog as well! I saw the original idea for this on a YouTube video that you can view HERE if you like. But if you'd like step-by-step written directions, here you go!

Supplies:
1 - 3”x3” piece of card stock
2 - 3”x3” pieces of designer series paper
Scallop Circle punch
Rhinestone brad
Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive
Small silk flower (or paper flower)
Scissors
Paper piercer (not shown in supply photo)

Step 1: Punch out a scallop circle out of each piece of DS paper and card stock.


Step 2: On the two DS paper scallop circles cut a slit at each scallop.


Step 3: Crumple the DS paper scallop circles in hand until desired look is achieved. Scallop circles should be nice and crumpled. The more crumpled, the more “shabby” the flower will look.

Step 4: Use adhesive to attached scallop circles one on top of the other, starting with the card stock on the bottom.

Step 5: Pierce the center of the flower with a paper piercer or a needle.

Step 6: Put the silk flower in middle of flower and attach the rhinestone brad through the middle, through all the layers of the flower. Flower is now completed and ready to use on a project.

Here's some gift tags that I showed you guys last week that I made using the shabby flowers... TONS of fun, right?!?! I sold these tags this weekend at a vendor fair we did over the weekend. I ended up stringing thin black ribbon with white polka dots through them. Didn't get a picture of them with the ribbon before they sold, but they were even more fun with the ribbon added! I ended up using smaller paper flowers instead of the silk flower and used a button in the middle instead of a rhinestone brad.

Hope you enjoyed looking! Try the tutorial out and see if it's easy to follow or not. Let me know! =D