Birthday Reminder Book

From Heidi:

What a fun project this was to make. It's amazing that you can take a simple manila file folder and turn it into something that is practical yet so much fun. I'm looking forward to using this birthday reminder to help me keep all the birthday's straight. I love the little pocket that can hold tags, pictures, and receipts. The wish list page will be very helpful to write down gift ideas and prices, especially while I'm out and about and see something that would make a great gift for someone's birthday down the road. This is part of a 3-part series of classes we'll be teaching in the future called "Birthday Bash Trio"... can't wait to make another one!

Looks Yummy!

From Adriel:

I had a chance to play on Tuesday and enjoyed myself so much! I made a cute "piece of cake" box that turned out adorable, don't you think?

Anyway, it made me wish I knew someone getting married or having a party, because a bunch of these would make the cutest party favors! I got the template for these cuties from a fellow SCSer. The template she sent me is actually for a 3-tiered "cake". The "slice" I made was from the bottom layer. I just printed the template out on white cardstock, cut it out, stamped it, assembled it, and decorated it. The back opens so you can put something inside.


On a different note, I'm going away this weekend for my husband's birthday. My parents and I went in together and rented a cabin up in the mountains (away from this heat!) for his birthday. It should be a nice, relaxing time. I'm thinking about printing up a few more of these templates and bringing them along with me. I may have some time to play while I'm up there relaxing. I know my mom is bringing along a fun project to work on while we're there. You'll have to wait until we get back to find out what it is... have a nice weekend!

Emerging Color

From Adriel:

I haven't gotten to create anything for a few days and I'm having withdrawals! I did create a card for a workshop this Thursday last Friday, but I didn't take a picture, so I have nothing new to share! I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze some creative time out of this week. In the meantime, I'll just have to be content with showing you a card I made a few weeks ago. This was my first attempt at the "emerging color" technique. It was pretty fun!

I started with a whisper white CS square and stamped the small flowers in a few colors all over the white square. Then, using versa mark and a larger flower stamp, I stamped 3 flowers on the card and used clear embossing powder to heat emboss the large flower images. Then with a brayer, I applied the old olive ink over and over the square. I repeated this a few times. Then I wiped the clear embossed flowers and finished the card as shown! Pretty neat, huh?


Well, that's all I have to share today! Have a wonderful day!

New Decor Elements!

From Adriel:

Stampin' Up! has begun selling a new product line called Decor Elements. This new product line is self-adhesive vinyl art for walls, mirrors, windows and other surfaces. Decor Elements can be purchased from a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (like Heidi). Below is a link to a blog that another demonstrator put up. She put these Decor Elements all over her house and they look amazing! Check it out here!

So what did you think? Pretty neat, huh? What an easy way to dress up a wall or add more character to a space. If you would like more information about this awesome new product line, let us know!

Chipboard is Awesome!

From Adriel:

I meant to post yesterday, but I've just had a weird week. My water heater broke Monday (water in my house, in my garage), got it fixed Tuesday (our friend and dear brother in Christ, Dave, put in a new one for us!), and yesterday was errands and swimming. So... (long breath), I'm just hanging out at home today and thought I would quickly put a new post on here. I know you wanted to know all that.

Anyway, I will share a card with you that I made a few weeks ago. I love the colors of this card!

For this card, I used DS paper (Bali Breeze), River Rock CS, Taken w/ Teal CS, and Whisper White CS. The only stamping I did was with the little flower from "Fresh Cuts" in versa mark on the River Rock panel and the "for you" from "Fresh Cuts" in Taken w/ Teal ink. The DS paper is great on cards. So anyway, about my title: Chipboard is Awesome! Okay, the square with the flower cut-out is a chipboard piece from Stampin' Up!'s Blossoms and Basics chipboard assortment. I just covered it with CS and trimmed and sanded the edges. I also distressed the edges with Taken w/ Teal ink, added a rhinestone to the middle and voila! Let me know what you think!

August Newsletter

From Heidi...

The August newsletters are in the mail, so be looking for them either in your snailmail or email. Adriel did the designing of the newsletter this month. I like the colors and clip-art she chose, it reminded me of summer colors. Hmmm... maybe there's a card that is waiting to be created with the newsletter colors and summer theme.

We've included a lot of information in this newsletter, as well as a creative card challenge. I hope some of you take the challenge, I'd love to see what ideas you come up with. Our newsletter lists our upcoming classes, a short article on what we do and offer, as well as information about the stamp club that will be forming in September, so be sure to take a look.

I'm excited about our free workshop in August. We've ordered the new "Flower Power" card scrappin kit and the "Wow Flowers!" stampset and are anxious to share all the creative ways they can be used. I can't wait to design and play with them myself. We'll be using either one or both of them for one of our "make-n-takes". You'll also get a chance to preview the new "In Colors" that will be featured in the new Fall/Winter catalog. They're very cheery and bright. I'm looking forward to using these colors in my upcoming projects.

July's 5 for $5

From Adriel:

It's been a few days since I posted anything on here. I thought I would share with you some photos from the 5 for $5 class we did last Friday. These are the cards we made (all materials Stampin' Up! unless noted):


These first two are the same card (layout in a vertical direction), but they end up turning out a little differently at the end. One is used for a more feminine card and the other is unisex.

Recipe for these two cards: Sahara Sand CS, Soft Sky CS, Apricot Appeal CS, Wild Wasabi CS, Whisper White CS, Priceless set, Tagger's Dozen set, Versa Mark, Apricot Appeal Stampin' Write marker, Night of Navy Stampin' Write marker, scallop circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, 1-1/4" circle punch, sheer white ribbon (not SU), rhinestones (not SU), mini glue dots, and dimensionals.




This one we made two of at once. I think teaching customers how to make two of one card is an invaluable lesson. It doesn't really take a lot more time and you end up with two instead of one. My mom designed this one.

Recipe: Bashful Blue CS, Barely Banana CS, Basic Black CS, Real Red CS, Whisper White CS, Bashful Blue ink, Barely Banana ink, Basic black ink, Mellow Moss ink, Fresh Cuts set, scallop circle punch, red ribbon (not SU), scallop scissors (Friskars), and dimensionals.

This last card is actually a gift card holder. It is a "W" card that has a gift card insert inside. Super cute and super versatile. My mom designed this one as well. I don't have a picture of the inside... sorry!


Recipe: Sage Shadow CS, Blue Bayou CS, Whisper White CS, Porcelain Prints DS paper, 2" circle punch (not SU), scallop circle punch, 1" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, corner rounder, Seeing Spots set, Blue Bayou ink, brass brad, and dimensionals.


So that is what we did! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Another Challenge

From Adriel:

Good morning! I had some time yesterday to play with our stamps and paper, so I made a card for Kristina Werner's color inspiration #15. The colors are below and they were so fun to play with!

So... this is what I came up with. A mod card, somewhat masculine, that I will use to give to my husband at some point in time.

I used the 3/4" circle punch and the 1/2" circle punch to make the little rings, just like the bedding. On the certainly celery, I used a stamp from the set "All in a Row" and used white craft ink. I applied paper piercing to the bottom of the card and around the half circle (punched from 1-1/2" circle punch). I used chocolate chip taffeta ribbon around the certainly celery panel. I raised the certainly celery panel up with dimensionals and attached the really rust side panel on top of the certainly celery with dimensionals as well (though it's hard to tell in the pic.) I wish I had been able to make more than one card and done something else, but I didn't have time.

Here's the recipe:

CS: chocolate chip, close to cocoa, certainly celery, really rust, whisper white

Sets: All Holidays, All in a Row

Ink: Close to Cocoa, White craft

Accessories: paper piercer, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, 1-1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, dimensionals.

Thanks for looking!

More Inspiration...

From Adriel:

Here's some links for more inspiration. I love seeing other people's work. Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I did/do!

teneale williams
story about a girl
debbie's designs

The next one made me smile. Can you guess why?

one happy stamper

Well, that's all for now folks!

One Sheet Wonder Project

From Heidi...

Last night I finished up the One Sheet Wonder I've been planning in my head for the past few weeks. I like how it turned out. I shared it at one of our classes today and they all liked it. We'll be offering this project in our October class. It's a nice gift by itself, or extra special if a gift card is added. I used an 8-1/2x11 sheet of white cardstock and was able to get 4 cards, 1 gift card, 1 tag, 1 Post-It note cover, 1 candy cover, and 1 bookmark...I'd say that was pretty good for one sheet of paper. I like how quickly it went together once the white cardstock was custom stamped. It was a very fun project.

I wanted to stay with one stamp set, so I used the new "Fresh Cut." It's block stamp made a great background for the occasional flowers and stems I threw in and the greetings were perfect for the gifts. I used Cookiestamper's ideas for the two cards, interchanging the "Fresh Cut" stamp set for "Priceless."

Additionals: CS-So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Certainly Celery; Inks-So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Mellow Moss, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Basic Black; Various punches, ribbon, brads, sticky velcro dots, and a cello bag to package the gifts in.

Here's What You Missed!

From Adriel:

Saturday we had our very first project class! We made the mini accordion album. It was fun to see how each album turned out differently for each person. I enjoyed my time, although I was a little stressed at how much longer the class took than I expected. Well, you live and learn! Now I know project classes take 3 hours, not 2! Being the first project class, I think this went very well and I'm ready for the next one!

Anyway, for those of you who didn't make it, here's what you missed.

Like what you see and wish you had come to this class? I've got some good news for you. We offer project classes twice a month. We will be doing this same class on July 14, 7-9pm (although it may take a little longer). Space is limited, so register soon for this class! You can contact us here.

Just Saying Hey...

From Adriel:

I hope all of you are enjoying your long weekend. We had a nice relaxing day yesterday, complete with a BBQ and fireworks. Chandler's fireworks are pretty lame. Every year we say that and the next year, we go watch them again. I guess we like how close they are and that it only takes 5 minutes to get a good spot to watch. Maybe we'll try Tempe's fireworks show next year... who knows. Things are very uncertain right now and I just take one day at a time.

I don't own one patriotic stamp set, so I have nothing creative to show you in that sense. The stamp collection that my mom and I own has a lot of flowers in it. I love flowers!

Since I don't have anything patriotic, I'll just share a nicer photo of the cards we did at the library last week. The other photo I put on here was an ugly color. Also, with all the library classes we've done, we collected quite a few of the same card. I made a matching box based on this tutorial. I changed the dimensions so that 5-1/2"x4-1/4" cards would fit. I love how the box turned out. I was so excited to make something so cute! Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Fourth!

June is over and now we're already into July. It's amazing how quickly time flies. We finished up our June library workshops and they were both great. Our last library workshop was a mother/daughter class and we were pleasantly surprised by the size. The last we'd heard there were only 6 signed up, but we ended up with 17... as a result, we were short on supplies for one of the cards, but several of the moms were gracious enough to forego the second card. The library classes were a great way to meet new people in the community, I hope we can do this again... maybe at Christmas time.

Don't you love Adriel's card she finished yesterday? I told her it looks very "urban" and upscale. We're both looking forward to the mini-accordion class this Saturday. This was Adriel's design, so she asked me to make sure her directions were accurate by making one. Well...the first one I started, turned out to be an example of how important it is to read the directions carefully. I didn't match the right sides together correctly and it turned out to be a good laugh.

Hope you all have a safe and happy Fourth!

Meeting My First Challenge!

From Adriel:

I have wanted to do this for a long time and I finally did it today! I took on color inspiration/challenge #14 on K. Werner's blog for these 5 colors.



Basic Black, Basic Gray, Ruby Red, River Rock, and Whisper White

I would never have chosen these colors to go together, but I love them! I used a set (Seriously Sassy) that we originally got to use with teens, but it seemed to go with the whole inspiration well. Hope you like it! Let me know what you think!

Recipe:

Card measures 6-5/8"x3-1/4"

Inspiration colors (listed and shown above)

Seriously Sassy stampset
Little Pieces stampset (soon to be retired! sniff, sniff)
Tagger's Dozen (also retiring)

1-1/2" circle punch
1-1/4" circle punch
1-3/8" square punch
1-3/4" square punch

Basic Black craft ink pad
Classic Basic Black ink pad
Clear embossing powder
Ruby Red Stampin' Write marker

Basic Gray taffeta ribbon
Basic Black brads
Dimensionals (of course!)

BTW, I know this is my second post today, but I couldn't wait until tomorrow!

Recipe Scrapbook

From Adriel:


Here is a picture of the recipe scrapbook that we will be doing in August. This is just the front of the flip book. The recipes are inside. I was being dumb when I took pictures and didn't get a picture of the inside! I will do that today (if I remember) and put it on here soon. Anyway, the theme for this album is "Summer Favorites". I think everything about this screams "SUMMER!", don't you?

This album was inspired by a recipe scrapbook featured in the Stampin'Up! Stampin' Success publication for March '08, pictures shown below. (Gotta give credit where credit is due!)

July and August Classes

From Adriel:

Here is a list of all our classes this month. All classes are open to ages 12 and up, unless otherwise noted. Normally, registration and payment is due 2 weeks in advance for supply and preparation purposes; however, July's events still have spots open. Registration is open for all classes below.

July 5, 1-3 pm: Project Class - Mini Accordion Album ($10)

July 11, 1-3 pm: Stamp-a-Stack (5 cards for $5)

July 14, 7-9 pm: Project Class - Mini Accordion Album ($10)

August 2, 1-3 pm: Project Class - Recipe Scrapbook ($10)

August 15, 1-3 pm: Stamp-a-Stack (5 cards for $5)

August 18, 7-9 pm: Project Class - Recipe Scrapbook ($10)