September 2010 Card Kit of the Month

Tiny Teacup

"Tiny Teacup" is one of Stampin' Up!'s à la carte stamps and is featured in this card we made at my August workshops. It is stamped with Marina Mist classic ink on Whisper White card stock and then punched out with the 1-3/8"Circle Large punch (119863, $15.95). I then mounted it on a piece of Rose Red card stock punched with the 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Extra-Large punch. However, the layered image was the last step in preparing this card.

First, we had to run the Whisper White card stock (4-1/4" x 11") through the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine (113439, $99.95) using the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (117335, $7.95). The different colors of "ribbon" are Marina Mist, Rose Red, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi and Pacific Point card stock cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (119275, $15.95). A piece of Marina Mist 5/8" Satin Ribbon (119751, $8.95 for 15 yards) served as the embellishment before adding my stamped image with Stampin' Dimensionals (104430, $3.95 for 300). Fun and simple!

"Tea"rific!

Everyone who knows me at all well, knows I love my tea--not iced and not herbal, but hot and black. I do enjoy my flavored teas, but, well, herbals are not really tea (they contain no tea leaves, in case you didn't know). Anyway, I had been longing for stamp sets that would show that side of me and Stampin' Up! has included several items in this catalog that fit the bill.

The card below is made using the "Take a Sip" wheel (120323, $6.50) and Concord Crush ink. Once again, I am using all the coordinating colors available in our Idea Book and Catalog. This Whisper White card is layered with Concord Crush card stock and Concord Crush designer series paper from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack. I've added the coordinating 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon (what's a card without ribbon, after all?) and a tea bag from the "Morning Cup" stamp set. I used Concord Crush and Blushing Bride Stampin' Write markers, along with a touch of Blushing Bride card stock for extra color.

While I was at it, I decided to make a coordinating book mark using the "Two Tags" Bigz Die (115954, $21.95) for the Big ShotDie-Cutting Machine (113439, $99.95) and the "Morning Cup" stamp set. Isn't that just "tea"rific?

Without Coffee

While on vacation this week, my brother-in-law, Danny, sat down at breakfast saying, "I gotta have my coffee, I gotta have my caffeine." I immediately thought of my new stamp set, "Morning Cup" (W 116988, $21.95; C 120489, $16.95) and just had to make this card for him when I returned home.

Baja Breeze is the primary color in this card with accents in Early Espresso, Very Vanilla and Poppy Parade. The striped paper strip is from the Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (117152, $19.95, 40 sheets of 12"x12" dsp). I love the paper stacks! What a great way to have coordinating dsp for an entire color collection!

An added advantage of clear mount stamps is the ability to arrange your stamp images on one block before stamping, which is what I did here. I set the coffee mug next to the coffee pot on the clear acrylic block before stamping with Early Espresso Classic Ink. Then I colored the images with my Stampin' Write Markers. Once again, Stampin' Up! makes it possible to have everything match perfectly with matching inks, markers, card stock, ribbons, brads, etc. That is one of the many reasons I am sold on Stampin' Up!

Now to write a quick note inside and get it in the mail...

Imagine...

My husband and I just returned from a week in the Adirondacks at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, NY. We had a great time with other family members (my sister's family and our daughter, Heather's family) sitting on the beach, playing in the water, sailing, making crafts, listening to special speaker, John Guest, and a presentation by author Eric Metaxas, as well as some great concerts.

Imagine my pleasure when I started opening the mail which had accumulated while we were gone and found this card from Melissa Shipman! Melissa is not my immediate upline (Aly Schilling is), but Aly's upline. This card was to congratulate me on the sales I made during the month of July. Amazing that I actually made the next level's group of top achievers.

To make this card, Melissa used Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz and Real Red card stock along with a strip of Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper. "Imagine the Possibilities" is from the Word Play stamp set (W120308, $41.95, or C120651, $28.95) and stamped with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink. I believe she used the new Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, which will be available from the Holiday Mini Catalog September 1, 2010.

The flower appears to be made from layers of punched out card stock: 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Extra-Large punch for Daffodil Delight (118874, $16.95); 1-3/4" Circle Extra-Large punch for Real Red (119850, $16.95); 1-3/8 Circle Large punch for Pumpkin Pie (119860, $15.95); and 1-3/4" x 7/8" Oval Large Punch for the two Pear Pizzazz leaves (119855, $15.95). The pieces were crumpled and then flattened out to give them texture and the ovals were scored down the length for the leaf effect. A Chocolate Chip flower brad (119730, $8.95 for 48 neutral flower brads) finishes it off.

I love it! Thank you, Melissa. And to think I didn't like Greenhouse Gala designer series paper at first...

Fifth Avenue Floral

This is another card we made at my July workshops. So quick and simple, yet stunning.

Just a neutral card stock (Very Vanilla or Naturals Ivory--this one is Very Vanilla) and one contrasting color (Cherry Cobbler). The stamp set is Fifth Avenue Floral with a greeting from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. I know, it seems like I'm always using Teeny Tiny Wishes, but those greetings fit so nicely into corners or on punched out card stock. The Very Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder added elegance when used on the Cherry Cobbler card stock. Some gold brads and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint diluted with rubbing alcohol and sprayed over the image provided the finishing touches.

Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 120175, $7.95

Fifth Avenue Floral Stamp Set, 113734, $24.95

Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set, 115370, $36.95

Cherry Cobbler card stock, 119685, $6.95 for 24 sheets (8-1/2" x 11")

Very Vanilla card stock, 101650, $8.50 for 40 sheets (8-1/2" x 11")

OR Naturals Ivory card stock (a little heavier), 101849, $7.50 for 40 sheets (8-1/2" x 11")

Cherry Cobbler Classic ink pad, 119669, $5.95

Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, 116806, $5.95

Gold Brads, 104337, $6.95 for 200

A Touch of Elegance

While I had the brayer out to design cards for my brayer class, I made this card and a scrap of the Presto Patterns Specialty designer series paper with it's hidden design that pops out when covered with ink. I tore the bottom of it, revealing the white paper layer.

Everything else on this card is stamped with images from the "Just Believe" stamp set (W 116948, $33.95; C 120453, $25.95). The verse and silhouetttes are stamped with Soft Suede Classic Ink while the circular piece is stamped with Wild Wasabi Classic Ink on Whisper White card stock. I punched the image with the 1-1/4-inch Circle Punch (119861, $15.95), layered it with a Soft Suede card stock punched with the 1-3/8-inch Circle Punch (119863, $15.95) and popped it with a couple Stampin' Dimensionals. The card itself is Whisper White card stock framing the Soft Suede card stock. No embellishments like brads or ribbons were needed on this card.

More Minus the Stamps

I'm finding the secret to making cards without the coordinating stamp set is the Big Shot, fancy punches, ribbon and scissors. You need some contrast and some dimension to make the cards stand out. Of course, Stampin' Up's perfectly matched colors really helps.

These cards are also made with the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series paper, a pack I didn't think I liked when looking at the picture in the catalog. Of course, I should have known that the thumbnail print couldn't do it justice.!

The Real Red card stock on the side of the above card was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, wrapped with some old Baja Breeze Ribbon and adorned with words from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set punched with the Modern Label punch. I cut the daisy-like flower from a scrap of the designer paper and mounted it with dimensionals overlapping the textured Real Red card stock.

This card just wouldn't lay straight in my scanner, but you can get the idea. The same Greenhouse Gala designer series paper mounted on Real Red and then adhered to the Baja Breeze card stock. The butterflies are embossed and cut with the Big Shot, as is the scalloped rectangle. Sincere Salutations provided the "Birthday Wishes" stamp.

Products you can order to duplicate these cards:

Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper, 117167, $9.95

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, 115370, $36.95

Sincere Salutations stamp set, 115068, $23.95

Real Red Classic Ink Pad, 103133, $5.95

Modern Label punch, 119849, $16.95

Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 117335, $7.95

Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (butterflies), 118138, $11.95

Scallop Rectangle Clearlits Die, 118872, $7.50

Pear Pizzazz card stock, 119795, $6.95 for 24 sheets 8-1/2" x 11"

Real Red card stock, 102482, $6.95 for 24 sheets 8-1/2" x 11"

Baja Breeze card stock 111352, $6.95 for 24 sheets 8-1/2" x 11"

Whisper White card stock, 100730, $8.50 for 40 sheets 8-1/2" x 11"

Substitute the ribbon with 5/8" wide satin or grosgrain ribbon in Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip or Real Red, or 1/2" wide Stitched-Poly Ribbon in Pear Pizzazz, pages 190-191 in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog.

No Matching Stamp Set

Ever order Designer Series Paper and realize you don't have the coordinating stamp set? You can still make some impressive cards without those particular stamps. Here are three I created using the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper (117167, $9.95, twelve 12x12 double-sided sheets).

This first one was made on a Pear Pizzazz card. I ran a piece of Daffodil Delight card stock through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (119976, $7.95) and matched that with a piece of the designer paper. I cut the flowers from my paper and attached them to a piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock with a hole punched in the lefthand corner to run the ribbon through. I'm sorry to say that this Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon is no longer available, but the current catalog carries several styles of Pumpkin Pie ribbon. The only stamping was "A Note of Thanks" from the Thank You Kindly stamp set (111700, $13.95) with Early Espresso Classic Ink.

Using the same designer paper on Pumpkin Pie card stock, I created this simple birthday card in no time. I added fake ribbon in Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White and Pumpkin Pie made with our new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. Once again, my wish is stamped with a stamp from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set (115370, $36.95), a set I use all the time! Three more punches provided the setting for the birthday wish--two oval punches (119855, $15.95; 119863, $15.95) and Scallop Oval (119856, $16.95).

This final card is made with the same three colors--Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie using the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder once again. This time I used the saying from the Watercolor Trio stamp set (W 117050, $22.95; C 120084, $16.95) in the mini catalog, which expires August 31, and punched it out with the Designer Label punch (119862, $15.95).

Two Cards, One Basic Design

Hosts and guests at my July workshops made two cards. This is one of them made two different ways (some made the Melon Mambo card while the others made the Daffodil Delight card). The "With All My Heart" stamp set (W 118134, $17.95; C 118623, $13.95) provided all the images I needed.

Actually, one of the cards on page 132 of the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog was my inspiration for this design. The card above is the standard 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" size while the one below is 3"x6" (cut your card stock 6"x6", which would give you four cards from a 12"x12" piece of card stock).

I've used the same colors in both cards, although they are reversed: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive. I added Whisper White to the Melon Mambo card. The leaves are cut with the Big Shot using the Little Leaves Sizzlits die. The flower is stamped and then punched using the Fancy Flower Extra-Large punch (118073, $16.95). On the Melon Mambo card, we colored the "Friend" stamp with coordinating Stampin' Write Markers before stamping on Whisper White card stock and punching with the Scallop Oval Extra-Large punch (119856, $16.95). The center of the Melon Mambo flower is a Build-a-Brad (109128, $9.95 for 24). First we stamped the little flower on a scrap of Whisper White card stock, then punched it with the 1/2" Circle Small punch (119869, $5.95) and adhered it to the base of the Build-a-Brad before topping it with the adhesive acrylic bubble, included in the tin of Build-a-Brads. So simple, especially with the clear blocks. So much fun!