Artist Trading Card and Help for Nepal

So, I think I've mentioned before that I belong to a group who do a monthly mail in swap of Artist Trading Cards, the little 2.5 x 3.5 inch cards that are based on the calling cards of artists back in the early 1900s. This month, our theme was "Fruity", and, at first, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I didn't think SU had any current fruit stamps, but then I saw Giggle Greetings and realized that it had a whole bowl of cherries image... and a great sentiment to go with it!

• I stamped the bowl of cherries with Memento Tuxedo Black and used my Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight Blendies to colour in the image. I know I shouldn't be using them on my blog when you can't order them any more, but it's so hard to go back to the regular markers once you've used the Blendabilities. . . Sigh!
• I added some highlights on the cherries and on the bowl with my White Gel Pen. Then I got out the Crystal Effects and added some blobs onto the cherries in the bowl. This takes a couple of hours to completely dry, so you can't be in a hurry if you use this much on a project.
• In the meantime, I cut some 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inch pieces of All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack and carefully ripped them as shown above. Then I added some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the little flower buds on the paper.
• After covering the ATC with Basic Black cardstock and adding the ripped piece of All Abloom cardstock to the top left side, I punched out the sentiments with the Modern Label Punch (*retiring) and added them to the base.
• I hand cut the cherry bowl and its shadow and mounted it with Stampin' Dimensionals and my ATC was finished. I can't wait to see what I get in return.

Sometimes life is just a bowl of cherries and sometimes it's just the pits! I'm sure that the people in Nepal would agree with that after the devastating earthquake that hit just last Saturday. Nepal is stunningly beautiful, but also one of the poorest countries in the world.

The 8.1 magnitude quake hit a wide area with massive destruction and authorities believe there will be over 10,000 fatalities. Thousands are homeless, and with the monsoon season coming in a few weeks, disease and lack of shelter could raise the toll drastically.

I've been wondering what we as a papercrafting community could do to help the efforts in terms of fundraising for aid to be sent. I'm sure many have already donated individually, as we have, to the cause.

What if we were to each hold an auction on our blogs? We could auction projects and then donate the proceeds to the Red Cross for use in Nepal, maybe using the hashtag #StampingforNepal. Tell me what you think of this idea or if you have a better one. I will post this in some other places as well. I would just feel better being able to contribute using my skills as a crafter to help in a meaningful way. Leave a comment if you agree.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

Giggle Greetings Wood Stamp Set [131062]	Giggle Greetings Clear Stamp Set [131065]	*All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack [133703]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen [105021]	Crystal Effects [101055]	**Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment [130995]	**Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment [139926]
Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details [125585]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	*Modern Label Punch [119849]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]

* Retiring June 2, 2015

**Discontinued, not available for order

Fly Away with Faux Canvas

I'm like many Stampin' Up demonstrators when it comes to Swallowtail, the Giant Behemoth Butterfly!  I love butterflies - don't get me wrong!  But old Swallowtail is just SOO big!  It doesn't even fit on a standard sized card!  I couldn't imagine how to use it.

But a couple of months have passed, and I have had a chance to play around with it a bit, and see how others have used it, and now I kinda like the big fella! 

For my next Technique Night Classes, the theme is Crystal Effects and one of the projects we will be tackling uses the Faux Canvas technique with Crystal Effects.  I learned how to do this technique from Lyssa Zwolanek's blog, and it is fairly simple and works REALLY well!

Here's my version of it:

For once, the photograph does the technique justice and you can see the canvas-like texture created by the Crystal Effects.  I love the Basic Gray image with the Pool Party and Island Indigo card stock.  I hemmed and hawed about what embellishments to add:  brads, buttons, punched butterflies, but in the end I decided that less is more and I let Mr. Swallowtail be the "stah of the show!"

The canvas effect is created by adding Crystal Effect and brushing with a toothbrush first vertically, then horizontally.  Make sure your ink is completely dry before adding the Crystal Effects.  My Island Indigo was not completely dry and bled a tiny bit, but the Basic Gray had been stamped before and was totally dry and there was not a problem with it.  Give it a try!

Another amazing recent announcement from Stampin' Up is that the awesome Starter Kit Deal that you got if you joined Stampin' Up during Sale-A-Bration, has been continued until March 31!  That means, if you sign up to get the Starter Kit, which is already a good deal - $155 worth of any Stampin' Up products you choose for only $125 with free shipping - you get $194 worth for only $125!  Even if you just want to get started stamping, this is your best deal! And you would have at least 3 months of a 20% discount even if you didn't make your minimums (but I can help you with that, too!)  You can't lose with a deal this good!  

I would love to have you join my team!  Give me a call if you are interested or even if you have questions.

Stamps:  Swallowtail (w129213; c129216); Perfectly Penned (w122890; c122892)
Paper:  Pool Party (122924), Island Indigo (122923) and Whisper White (100730) card stock
Accessories:  Crystal Effects (101055); Sycamore Street Button and Ribbon Pack (from Sale-A-Bration; no longer available)

Time Flies!

Welcome to another busy week!  I can't believe how fast they are flying by these days.  In fact, it startles me when I see I need to do laundry or get groceries, because it feels like I just got them!  I feel like I should be good for another few days, but no!  Another week has passed.

So here we are at Monday again!  And time for some more challenges.  This time I have created a card that will fit two challenges:  The Paper Players #137 , a sketch challenge;   and Dynamic Duos #44, as always, a colour challenge.

Here's my card using The Paper Player's layout:

And Dynamic Duos' Colour Palette:

• I'm planning a Technique class coming up using Crystal Effects in different ways, so I wanted to try out some of the techniques I've seen using it.  
• So I flattened some of the large Soda Pop Tops using the Big Shot and stamped some 1" circles using  the Collage Curios stamp set.  
• I mounted them in the  Soda Pop Tops and added a thick layer of Crystal Effects......

Several hours later......

• Still waiting for them to completely dry! If I'm going to do this for Technique Night, this will have to be the first project and the layer of Crystal Effects will have to be a lot thinner!                                                                                                                                       

• I don't know if you can tell, but the bubble like things on the Soda Pop Tops are Rhinestones added before the Crystal Effects.
• I finally got to use one of the Needlepoint Borders Embossing Folders with the cross-stitch design, near the Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon at the top.
• The sentiment is from the Curly Cute stamp set.

SALE-A-BRATION ENDS THIS WEEK!!

I can't believe that Sale-A-Bration is almost over either!  Where did those two months go?  Friday, March 22nd is the last day!  I hope you've been reading your emails or watching my Facebook posts regarding the last 10 Days of Sale-A-Bration Bundles, because there are some great opportunities to take advantage of Stampin' Up's free Sale-A-Bration products.  I will be featuring them in further posts this week!  

Make sure you email me before midnight, Thursday, Mar. 21st, so you don't miss out!  Everyone who orders $60 or more from me during Sale-A-Bration will receive an invite to my free Celebrate Sale-A-Bration party where I will spoil you with lots of free stuff! 

• There are other ways to get an invite.  If you join my team during SAB, I will send you an invite!  It's the best deal ever - $194 worth of product for only $125!  
• If you booked a private class with me during Sale-A-Bration, you are invited, but you could still book an event with me.  I have set a goal to book 9 classes during April, May and June, and I need you to help me achieve it!  If you call me before I call you on Thursday, with a date in mind during those months, I will see that you are invited to Celebrate Sale-A-Bration!

Make my little daffodil bulb grow - every 2 bookings will cause it to show new growth!  Help me turn it into a whole field of blooming daffodils!

Stamps: Collage Curios (w129099; c129102); Curly Cute (w117014; c120510)

Paper: Basic Black (121045) and So Saffron (105118) card stock

Ink: StazOn Jet Black (101406)

Accessories:  Soda Pop Tops (129388); 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Basic Black (119962); Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246), Crystal Effects (101055)

Tools:  Curly Label Punch (119851), Scallop Edge Border Punch (119882), 1" Circle Punch (119868), Needlepoint Border Embossing Folders (129383) 

Tardiness Will Not Be Tolerated!!

I confess!  I'm a day late and a dollar short.  This post was supposed to be written yesterday, but life sometimes happens.  (What an odd statement!  Life always happens, but sometimes it interferes with our plans.)  I had a wonderful Christmas Stampers' Dozen on Wednesday night.  We made 12 - note well- a dozen Christmas cards!  Three each of four different designs.  I thought I had chosen simple enough cards for the occasion, but I have been struggling with that aspect of my classes.  The designs involved too many steps or maybe I should say, too many time consuming steps.  My ladies and I worked HARD for four hours, but we finished! And they look beautiful!  And I am heading back to the drawing board for my last Christmas Stampers' Dozen in November.  I am going to get this right!

Yesterday morning, I had a meeting with someone who wants wedding invites designed and then took my DH to the hospital for a procedure on his eye, did some errands and just like that, it was dinner time! 

I started making a card to post, but the design was not coming easily.  I finally got it designed, but I had to wait for a thick layer of Crystal Effects to dry on an acorn, so figured I'd write my post, then add the photographs later.

Here is the design:

It uses a stamp set I have been wanting for a long time and finally ordered, Wonderfall.  I just love the graphics and the designs on the leaves.  I used the Autumn Accents Bigz Die and the Big Shot to cut out the leaf shapes.  This is one time where you die cut first and then stamp, because otherwise the leaf shapes on the die are opposite to the stamp shapes.  Odd, but it works okay.

 I got the idea for the book-like spine from one of the wedding invites we were looking at, trying to come up with ideas.  I am also so drawn to the Orchard Harvest DSP from the Holiday Mini Catalogue.  I love the colours and the bold images.  The torn Early Espresso paper with the lighter center is from the Core'dinations collection and comes in Early Espresso, Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler.  I am organizing groups of 3 people right now who are interested in doing a Paper Share of the three colours of core'dinations.  Basically, you pay the price of one pack, but then you share the 3 colours.  You would get 4 pieces of each colour.  Let me know if you are interested in forming another group of three people.  The cost is $12.26 each which includes shipping and tax.

The sentiment is from Word Play, one of the three stamp sets that Stampin' Up is promoting, from which you can also purchase single stamps from the set by themselves, in a pilot project that runs through to Jan. 2, 2012.  See more here.


And I finally got to use one of the new Naturals Designer Buttons in wood grain.  It's perfect for this project!

Well, that's it for now.  Better late than never, I always say, but I'll take fifty lashes with a wet noodle for being tardy!

Stamps:  Wonderfall (w128084; c128087); Word Play (w120308; c120651)
Paper:  Orchard Harvest DSP (126895), Core'dinations Early Espresso cardstock (127848), Lucky Limeade (122926) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock
Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Island Indigo (126986), Lucky Limeade (126984), Raspberry Ripple (126859) and Cajun Craze (126965)
Accessories: Naturals Designer Buttons (127554);  Linen Thread (104199); Crystal Effects (101055)
Tools: 2 1/2" Circle Punch (120906); 3" Circle Originals Die (122125); Autumn Accents Bigz Die (127812)