Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Joy in Triple-Time Stamping

Here's another Triple-Time stamping card.

Saturday, after doing some stamp work, I was cutting pieces for this technique, and my friend had out this stamp.  It's one of the really large SU stamps, but I LOVE it so much!

I stamped in in Old Olive - after experimenting for awhile with lots of colors, this Olive color just seems right to me for the background.  I like to take time with the markers outlining and accenting other areas of the stamp.

The poinsettias, bell ribbon, and holly berries are outlined in Bravo Burgundy then colored in with Riding Hood Red.
The bell is Daffodil Delight, Bravo Burgundy, and More Mustard.
I also outlined Joy with Always Artichoke but didn't color it in... just as an accent.
All the holly leaves and poinsettia greenery are colored with Certainly Celery, and outlined in places with Wild Wasabi.

I've made only one of these so far, but I think I'll put one of my assembly lines together, and make more of these.  I'll also add some Stickles to this before they go out in the mail. :)






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Monday, July 30, 2012

Sparkle, Sparkle, Glitter, Sparkle!!! Christmas in July Cont'd.

OR, you could say Glitter, Glitter, Sparkle, Glitter! I liked both, and couldn't decide which one to use. :)

Only a few more days left in July... I just had to take advantage of an idea that hit me, with the help of a dear friend!! (Thanks, Melissa!)




HERE is a link to the original tutorial done by one of the Long-Time, AWESOME Stampin' Up Demos, Mary Director.  I made some of those, but as I was talking with my friend after our crafting Saturday, it dawned on me that I could use some of the colored glitter I have as well!

SO, early this morning, I made the card as directed - but instead of using the reinkers, I used the colored glitters from the PK Glitz company.  China Red, Pine Forest, and Honeycomb were the colors I used.  I also used one of the Stampin' Up new ornament sets, and used the same glitter colors on the stamped image and heat-embossed them.

Why is Merry Christmas in black??  I know, but I didn't have any other options there...  You must stamp in Staz-On ink on the transparency sheets, or the ink beads and smears.  The only Staz-On pad I currently have is black.  Will have to take a look around for some more colors.... Silver, Gold, etc.

I do hope you can see the glittery sparkles!!  Even in low light, they are so sparkly!

Your comments are always appreciated!

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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Thank You Butterflies

 In addition to the prizes I send out each month to the winners of the 2012 Christmas Card Challenge, I've been making Thank You cards as well.  These turned out so cute, I took pictures.

As you know, there were two winners this month, and though the cards are pretty much identical, there are a few differences as you can see.

 The butterflies are from one of the new Stampin' Up sets with a coordinating punch.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, and Lovely Lilac to stamp the butterflies.

The embossing folder is a Sizzix Damask design, and the sentiment was stamped in Elegant Eggplant and punched out with one of the many label punches and inked in Raspberry Ripple.


Your comments are always appreciated!

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Friday, July 27, 2012

Five Question Fridays! 7-27-2012


1. What is the funniest thing you saw on Facebook/twitter this week?


    I always like to look at the funny kitty pictures with the captions.  They make me laugh.  OH  and the corn cobs... one popped and one not.  "Hot outside?"

2. What is your favorite Olympic event?


     You mean I have to pick ONE???   Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, Soccer,  etc. etc. etc.  LOVE the Olympics! All of them!

3. Do your kids to chores around the house? If so, what are they and how old are the children? Do they get paid for them?


Chores?  Since we don't have any children, and my husband likes the house VERY neat, he does the lion share... I am in charge of the cooking, since we both don't want to be poisoned. :)  

4. If you get bad service/food do you complain or keep quiet?

      It depends.  If it's VERY bad, I'll call the manager over - NOT to get free stuff, but to let them know.  Most of the time I complain through tips - we generally tip well.  Restaurants that know us - we get GREAT service.  
We also run by a 3 strikes rule - we'll give them 3 chances....  then they're out.  We've even had a few 1 strike places, but not too many.

5. If you could pick ONE frivolous item for your home, what would it be? (massive room sized closet? swimming pool? greenhouse? etc...)

SWIMMING POOL!!!!!  I'd love to have a swimming pool in the back yard.  We have enough room for a pool, with a nice cement deck, a big chimney fireplace, and a small kitchen set-up.  The only problem is we wouldn't use the extras other than the pool 'cause it's so hot here.  I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to have a swimming pool!!!




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Stampin' Up Club Cards - July 2012

Here are the two cards we made for July....  GREAT job as always to our Demo, Kathy!!  She's always got great ideas for cards and projects. :)

This card is using the stamp set "Reason to Smile".  It's on special this month - if you make a $50 order with Stampin' Up (which is so easy to do!!) this stamp set is available for $5.  It's got some really great images.  We used the flower for this one, and colored it with Pink Pirouette and Pretty in Pink for the flower, and Certainly Celery for the stem. 

This card comes from the stamp set "Just Believe" - the Circle piece with the flowers is one I know I'll use often - I've seen it in so many samples and used in so many creative ways!!! 

Your comments are always appreciated!

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Opening Day of the XXX Olympics in London!


 After seeing the rings on TV, I thought I'd give them a try from my crafting supplies.

I'm not usually the patriotic one in the family... that's Mom - she's the Red White and Blue Queen!!!  This top card with the rhinestone additions will go to her for sure!  I know she's going to love it - we always watched the Olympics - summer, winter - didn't matter!


 The hardest part of making these was actually gluing them together.  Making the rings was a cinch!  Use the 1" circle punch, cut out a circle leaving enough room to punch around it... you need just a little space.  Then use your 1 1/4" punch lining it up so there's an equal amount of cardstock border showing and punch! 

Cut through the yellow and green circles once, and link the rings... glue 'em up, and have fun!

I admired this font set from the CardMaker magazine, and since I'm no good at anything freehand, I traced them on Vellum, and colored the backs.  It's a stained glass technique, just used a little differently.

I hope everyone enjoys the Olympics as much as I do!  I'm especially looking forward to all the little interest pieces they'll do on the UK.  AND the opening ceremonies, of course!!

Your comments are always appreciated!

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

More Christmas in July

 I'm still in the mood to play with the Christmas theme... so here goes!

These two cards are called "Joy Fold" cards.  They're pretty simple to make, just cut your two card bases, and adhere white cardstock or DSP to follow the theme you're after.

I've seen these cards made for all types of occasions.  The trick is, you need a button, ribbon, baker's twine, - something to keep the front piece of the card closed.  Here I used the small red ornament with some dimensionals to keep it lifted off the paper a bit.

The DSP used here is Be Of Good Cheer, and I stamped the ornaments in Gumball Green, and Raspberry Ripple.

The two cards look ALMOST the same - but can you see the differences?

This is an inside view of the Joy-Fold card...  lots of area for decorating and adding lots of little details.

 This image of Santa is from CTMH colored with my Stampin' Up markers.  I refuse to spend that crazy amount of money on Copic Markers... if I work at it, I can get almost the same effects from my SU markers.

The Noel is stamped with Raspberry Ripple ink directly on the cardstock.  Don't you just LOVE LOVE LOVE the new ink pads?  The coverage is FANTASTIC!  I also used the embossing folder, die, and punch pack to add detail at the bottom of this card.  LOVE that Victorian style!


Your comments are always appreciated!

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wonderful Christmas in July Winner(s)!!


WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL news!!!  There isn't just one winner for the July CCC, there are TWO!!

I will be awarding prizes to BOTH winners since they received an equal number of votes in the challenge.  Seems the voters couldn't decide which was the better card, SO... Both entries will receive the prize package.

In light of having two winners this month,  I need mescrapsalot, and Julie M. to send me their addresses so I can get their prizes out in the mail.

You can either email me at msvilarnospam@cox.net OR make a comment here with your address -  I WILL NOT publish them!!

CONGRATULATIONS to both winners!!!

Your comments are always appreciated!

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Voting Ends Tonight at Midnight!



 There are 3 AWESOME card selections that have been submitted to the Challenge for July!
Scroll down to the post or click HERE to go directly.  At the bottom of the post, you'll see the 3 cards.  Click on them, get a close look, and click on VOTE to choose your favorite!

Voting ends tonight at midnight, so get your votes in!
Thanks so much for participating - making cards AND in the voting!

Your comments are always appreciated!

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Triple Time Stamping with Measurement How-To

I found this technique searching around online, and wanted to really play with it.  I already posted the two Christmas Cards I made using the Triple Time Stamping, and now the "regular" cards using two different stamp sets.

You could use almost any stamp set using this technique... your imagination is your limitation!!

This card, I used the Stippled Blossoms Stampin' Up set.  It's a Two-Step Stamping, and I've recently decided to buy these from now on in the wood so I can make a permanent Stamp-a-ma-jig template saving lots of time and hopefully, frustration!



 This card uses the Everything Eleanor stamp set I've recently started to appreciate (Thanks, Kathy!!).

 So....  HOW is this technique done??  Here it is - you won't believe how easy it is!!

First, cut your base card from 8 1/2 x 11" cardstock and fold to make 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card.

These are the measurements for the mats:

5 1/2 x 4 1/4 - card base
4 1/2 x 3 1/4
3 1/2 x 2 1/4

Now, your white/vanilla, etc cardstock for stamping:  This actually uses only 1/2 of a sheet.
5 1/4 x 4  (turn sideways after this cut to get the rest)
4 1/4 x 3
3 1/4 x 2
**Cut the 4", 3", and 2" pieces first, then cut to length.

Line up the white/vanilla cardstock, and use a repositionable/temporary adhesive while you do your stamping.

After you are finished with the stamping, put the layers together, adhere, add ribbon and other embellishments, and you have a very pretty, quite impressive card!


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More Christmas in July

Just 6 months away from Christmas, and Hobby Lobby already has the Christmas decorations out... haven't seen the Christmas trees yet, but they're going to be up soon!!!  As you know I'm always in the mood for anything Christmas - and even though these two cards were quite time consuming due to the coloring involved, they were worth it!!

These two cards show a technique called Triple Time Stamping.  It's quite easy, and gives such a nice result, as well as a very pretty card!  I'll use this one often. 



Click this LINK to view the directions on how to make a Triple-Time card as well as another non-Holiday example!

Your comments are always appreciated!
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

2012 Christmas Card Challenge - July!




"Christmas Is Coming!!!"  Since Mom read this comment I wrote in June, it's been an even bigger running joke!  We're having lots of fun with it.

SO, July is here!!  I'd LOVE it if you would post a comment on this post and tell me what YOU are doing for Christmas in July!  I know our local Hobby Lobby's will be putting out the Christmas ornaments and trees already....  I want to check out all the new ornaments for sure.

Our theme for July is.... SANTA!
You can use your Cricut (like I did) to cut a Santa and decorate him...  Use a Santa Stamp from any one of the many stamp companies out there.... OR use your punches to MAKE a Santa!  I've seen some really cute ones!!  I love the Victorian style so much, I had to use this Santa.  He took lots of inking and details, but I really like him!

The basic rules are the same, create 6 Christmas cards based on the theme of the month, take a photo showing all 6, and enter it into the linky from your blog or website.  **Don't have a blog of your own??  1.  You could start one.... or 2. contact me, and I have a solution for that issue.

Click HERE for the original post including the (very easy and straightforward) rules to the Challenge.

Get your cards made, and entered into the Linky below by the 20th!!! Can't wait to see what you've made!

Put mine to shame, I'm sure!







Your comments are always appreciated!
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Monday, July 2, 2012

Flowers for Mom

 Here is a series of cards I made for Mom while she was here visiting - She approved all the colors, layouts and sentiments, but I pushed a little for the yellow flowers. :)

This is one of the new Stampin' Up sets, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  It will be used for a LONG LONG time!

This is one of the Two-Step Stamping sets called Stippled Blossoms (#126745w /#126747c) and I ordered it in wood because I knew I'd use it so much.  I made a Stamp-a-ma-jig permanent template on some transparent film I had with Staz-On ink, so in the long run, this is going to save LOTS of time - keep the piece with the stamp set, and you are ready to go!!

The cards stamp really fast - and after I trimmed up some of the rubber edges from the first card, they turned out GREAT!!!

Question:  Can you tell where I've used the "new" ink pads, and needed to use the "old" ink pads?  Look at the ink coverage!  LOVE those new pads!!!

So, here they are - a series of 11 cards, in all different Stampin' Up colors.  Please enjoy!


 After I stamped this initial card, the rubber edges were trimmed to get rid of the ghosting near the edges of the stamps.











Your comments are always appreciated!

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