Friday, June 29, 2012

Summer of Techniques Sneak Peek

Hi all! And happy Friday! Today I wanted to share a card that I created for my Summer of Technique classes starting on July 9. The first week of classes will be featuring Heat Embossing techniques. Check out my Events page on my website for more class details.



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I also wanted to share a non-Stampin' Up project that I created this week. I just love the new Happy Haunting line from Graphic 45 so this is an altered art box that I made using the new line. 
I hope you enjoy!







Thursday, June 28, 2012

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

New Card Buffet Card

Hi all! Just a quick post today. Today's card will be featured in this month's card buffets. I hope that you will join me. Dates for upcoming Card Buffets are as follows:
June 28 7-9pm
June 29  10am - 12pm
July 4 7-9pm
July 21 9am- 11am
July 30 7-9pm

Come and create as many cards as you would like. And you get to decide which cards you make...up to 20 designs available. Cost is only $15 (minimum fee for up to 8 cards) and $2.50 per card after first 8.
Email me to RSVP

So here's today's card


Monday, June 25, 2012

Slider Box

Hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was uneventful.
Today I read a blog post that I really wanted to share with you. You can find the full post here.
Stephanie Howell wrote a post entitled "What Happened? Falling into a Creative Black Hole". I found that I could totally relate to it and it was extremely interesting. I hope that you are able to take something away from this post too. So here is part of her post:

Why don't I scrapbook anymore? Why don't I ever make time to be creative anymore (except for the Studio Calico assignments I owe each month)?

What happened? And what can I do to fix it? Because I don't want to stop.

A lot of things happened.



1.I had too much stuff.

I kept buying. I kept saying yes when people wanted to send me things. I kept ordering and keeping up with the latest and greatest.

And I drowned in it.

I had too much. So I purged. I donated. I did giveaways. I gave two boxes to our babysitter. I stopped buying, I stopped saying yes.



2.I got caught up in the mob mentality.

"Everyone" has a silhouette. Everyone was misting. And splattering ink. And sewing. And stamping and layering and and and...

And while it is a lovely look (one I wish I could pull off)...I cannot pull it off. And it is not "me".

I thought it had to be me. So I tried it. I misted. I layered bits and pieces. I spent hours on layouts.

And it wasn't fun for me. It didn't feel authentic. And the end result wasn't meaningful to me.

I got tired of feeling like I had to constantly link and tweet and show pictures of what I was working on.No one said I had to...but it's easy to get sucked into it. Most days I don't even have time to go in my scrap room. At.All.

I wish I could have a new project to share every day. But that is not going to happen anytime soon. And social media has a way of making you feel inferior. If you let it.



3.I got stressed out

I don't think I really have to explain this one. For some reason I never really got my feet under me this deployment. Creativity was the last thing I had time for. I quit project life,didn't really set foot in my scrap room,I started my new job...which I LOVE by the way. But a lot of things happened that took the place of creativity.



4.I realized that I'm probably not the best fit for design teams

I don't make complicated pages. I don't dabble in techniques or do anything that would sell classes or product. I found a job where I could pour my creative focus without being looked at for layout inspiration.

I realized that making heartfelt,meaningful pages the way I do was NOT the best fit for pushing or selling product. I never figured out a way to do that in an authentic way and I got tired of trying. Simply put...some can make the two mesh in an honest way. I cannot.

I finally learned that I shine through blogging. Through sharing my heart (and sometimes sharing my heart in layouts)...but I am not a competitive designer.I am not great at selling product.

I don't want to have to worry about if I'm good enough. I want to be me and feel 100 percent at home doing what I'm doing. That's why the MME job and moving my focus elsewhere is a great fit for me.

I still intend to share companies and products I love now and then. That's part of the joy of this for me...sharing things and people I truly believe in!

**I need to come back here and clarifying that I am not trying to bite the AMAZING hands that fed me. There used to be a time that perhaps I was better at being a design team member. It has been a joy and privilege to work for companies,teams,and women I believe in. There is no doubt that those days brought me many gifts and amazing opportunities. I just feel that I am not a good fit for design teams anymore. There are many people who ARE and who do it well.**

And today's project is a Slider Box. I actually created 3 of them using up some old Simply Scrappin' kit that I had left over. And I admit that the first box that I made....despite the creator's assurances that these are easy to make...took me 3 hours! And lots of pulling apart and re-doing! 
So please enjoy!!!!





Friday, June 22, 2012

TGIF

Hi all! hope you have had a good week. It has been gorgeous here yesterday and supposed to be again today so I am hoping for a good end to the week. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain this weekend so it will be a good time to get into the craft room. 

Today I wanted to talk about Digital Trends. I do a little bit of digital scrapbooking and I especially use My Digital Studio for making my newsletters and technique sheets. A very big trend right now are banners of all different varieties. Stampin' Up! is definitely following that trend with banners that can be found in the Celebration digital kit, as well as the Perfect Pennant Designer Template just to name a few. You can download the entire My Digital Studio downloads catalogue here

Did you know that you don't need to just create a scrapbook page or card with your My Digital Studio downloads? You can also use the stamp downloads to print, color and cut out to use on your traditional card/scrapbook page. It is a great way to create your project using a stamp image that you may not own in the traditional sense. Talk to me today about all the great features that My Digital Studio offers you. 

Today's project is a card that I created using Paper Daisies and a technique for layering and coloring them that can be found in my latest copy of Stampin' Success. Stampin' Success is an exclusive magazine that demonstrators receive monthly with some great techniques, ideas and business building solutions. Just one more great reason to become a demonstrator. The supplies for this project can be found listed below.



Supplies
Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder
Crumb Cake Cardstock
First Edition DSP
Bitty Banners Framelits
Pinking Hearts Border Punch (retired)
Paper Daisies
Cherry Cobbler Re-inker
Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding
Crochet Trim
Naturals Designer Buttons



Thursday, June 21, 2012

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Thought Provoking

Hi all! Hope your week has started off well.
I read an interesting article last week at Scrapbook Update about the Amazon Effect and how it relates to the scrapbooking industry. If you are in a scrapbooking business I think it is very informative and might hopefully give you some new insights. And if you are just a consumer... how do you feel it relates to you and do you agree with the conclusions? I would love to hear your thoughts on it. The article can be found here. Please leave me a comment below.

Today's project is a card that I created taking inspiration from a manufacturers advertisement. The supplies are listed below. 



Supplies
- Neutrals DSP paper stack
- Word Play Stamp Set
- Labels Collection Framelits
- Antique Brads
- Black Satin Ribbon (retired)
- Alphabet Chipboard (Retired)
- Basic Black & Crumb Cake ink
- Sponge Dauber
- Rhinestone
- Early Espresso & Basic Black Cardstock
- Dimensionals

Monday, June 18, 2012

Not a card!

It's Monday! I didn't get a chance to post on friday but I have been working on some cute projects. It's been another busy week...but then when isn't it?! This weekend I sent my husband to a grilling class and he had a great time and learned a lot. He demonstrated his new skills tonight with his steak cooking techniques and he even made his own BBQ sauce. I was very impressed! And this afternoon we all went to see a classic movie screening... Ferris Bueller's Day Off. We had never seen it in a theatre so we had a great time. Even my teenagers loved it! I love that some theatres are offering the chance to see some classic movies. 
But enough about my life... On to my project today. First a little background... I have been trying to clean up my craft area and use up some of the stuff I have bought over the years. Last week I was starting to clean off one of my shelves and I found a lunchbox tin that I have had for awhile. So I pulled it out and then went searching for some paper... Unfortunately the DSP that I chose to use is expired but I hope that you will gain some inspiration from this project... and I would love to hear your comments.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Technique Thursday!

It's Technique Thursday again! Today Shannon West from Stampin' Up! shows how to create a border element with the Lace Ribbon Border Punch, then shows it off with a couple of projects.


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Betsy's Blossoms

Half way through the week and I am very much looking forward to the end.

Today's card is a card that I made using the Betsy's Blossom stamp set and Floral District DSP from the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up Catalogue. 



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During June, new demonstrators not only get to choose the products for their fully customizable Starter Kit, they'll also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE, including the Make a Cake Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD! That's up to $60 in additional FREE products!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Midnight Muse flower

What a beautiful day! Time to finally get outside and enjoy the sun! Except that I am busy getting ready for my last stamper's club next week. And preparing a surprise for my wonderful club members. 
Then it will be time to get ready for my  new summer classes...stay tuned!

Today's card is a two-fold challenge. The card was created based on the Mojo Monday challenge #245 and also the Playing in Paradise challenge to use texture. I also created the flower using Dryer Sheet Flower technique.

So here is the mojo monday sketch...

 


and here is my card...






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During June, new demonstrators not only get to choose the products for their fully customizable Starter Kit, they'll also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE, including the Make a Cake Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD! That's up to $60 in additional FREE products!

 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Vs Stampin’Up! Classic Ink

Hi all! It's Monday! Hopefully the weather will be better and it will be start of a fabulous week. 

Today I wanted to share a post that Terry from Classy Cut-Ups Creations shared with her blog fans. This article was originally posted at Misty's Mess. I hope that you will also find the conclusion very  interesting.

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Vs Stampin’Up! Classic Ink

I thought it would be an interesting experiment to make two cards the same, one using Tim Holtz distress Inks and the other using Stampin’Up! Classic Ink. They are both dye inks, and they are the inks I use almost exclusively. The card is made using three different techniques, wrinkle free distress, direct-to-paper stamping and watercolouring and I used Stampin’Up! Whisper White cardstock.
Fisrt I did a colour selection from both brands so I could get the closest colour match for my experiment. In order of the photo, naming SU! first; PerfectPlum – DustyConcord, RidingHoodRed – FiredBrick, RegalRose – WornLipstick, PumpkinPie – SpicedMarmalade, MoreMustard – WildHoney, Old Olive – PeeledPaint.
I used the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique for the backgrounds. The top is made with Stampin’Up! Old Olive and More Mustard. The bottom on is made with Distress Ink Peeled Paint and Wild Honey. I was surprised at how well the Stampin’Up! inks worked using this technique. I was expecting a less intense colour and for the colours to mix more for a more ‘muddied’ colour blend, but the colours stayed bright and layered nicely. I added a ‘fingertip splash’ of plain water over the top to see what would happen, and both papers gave the same result with the whitish patches showing up. It maybe worth doing this technique again with more contrasting colours. I may have played it safe using closely related colours.
I should have photographed these two together, because despite taking the pics at the same time, they have a different cast of light. Anyways, here I have shown the Jumbo Peony by Stampendous, stamped with the two different inks. I was never overly fond of using Distress Inks for stamping crisp images, but this particular stamp lends itself well to using them since the image has a nice sketchy feel to the line work. A bit hard to tell from the photos but the Stampin’Up! impression is crisp with even colour, and the Distress impression has some fuzzy edges with a blotchy colour, but it doesn’t detract from the stamping.
Next I move onto the watercolouring. Both colours were easy to use, layer and blend using this technique. It’s hard to objectively say how they were different, but they did have a different ‘feel’ when it come to laying down the colour. The Distress Inks felt smooth, but they were both up to the job of giving me a pleasing and like-for-like look.
Next came the layering and shading with other colours. Both sets of inks were up to this job as well, giving me a watercolour look I was after. I liked the way the yellows from both layered brightly over the pink, and the purples blended when creating my shadows.
And this is what the finished cards look like side by side. I stamped the florish from the Jumbo Peony onto the background before the final assembly. So what do you think? Does one look better than the other? Can you tell that each is made with different types of ink? On these cards, using the techniques I have, I can’t see the difference. My initial purpose was to show how these inks were different, but it didn’t turn out that way, with this card.