Design 101 Part 2

So Monday night, I had the second in a series of three classes on how to design your own cards.  I was really worried about it because the first of the series I only had two people attend.  The second class, I had seven people attending and I was worried about the logistics of it and if it was too complicated for some or too easy for others.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  No one got too frustrated, (at least they didn't tell me they were) and they created some great cards on their own, with some guidance from some challenge sketches I gave them.






There were some guidelines to follow and some pieces already cut except for the last project, which they had to cut the pieces and choose the colours and stamps and everything.

At the end, I asked each one to choose their favourite of the three projects they did and I took a photo of the card for my blog, with their permission.  Everyone was so proud of what they had accomplished, with good reason.  I am going to share them with you today.  Please leave some kind comments for the ladies to encourage them:

Margaret Knoess

Shirley Wilding

Alice Stutters

Rebecca Hendricks

Eunice Stoneman

Jill Clifton

Just One More Sleep!!

Yes, just one more day until you can order the Magnetic Platform for the Big Shot.  If you remember, back early in the summer, the demand was so great for these, that the manufacturer couldn't keep up and they were backordered for ages, so Stampin' Up took them off the order list until they could catch up.

Well, they did and now you will be able to order them again, starting Thursday, Sept. 12.  My advice to you, if you want one (and who wouldn't - they're the best thing since sliced bread!), is to get your order in right away.  Call or email me or go to my online store, but I personally know of dozens of people who want one, and multiply that by all the distributors and you've got a mighty big demand again.

Stampin' Up has added more new MDS downloads!  Check them out here.  Here's some of the latest ones released Sept. 10:

Burlap Ribbon - Digital Download

Grateful Hearts Frameables

Halloween Banner - Digital Download

Halloween Hello Stamp Brush Set

Perfect Blend Stamp Brush Set

Simply Life Photo Templates

Tape It Stamp Brush Set

Toil and Trouble Stamp Brush Set

Thanks for dropping by, and please leave a kind comment for my Design 101 class to encourage them to keep creating!

The Power of Toucans

Toucans - unlikely looking birds!  They look like some stuffed frightful that you win at a carnival!  Those bright colours are so unusual and they stand out even more sharply with the black body.

Years ago, when we first moved to the Okanagan, we were lucky enough to move next to some great neighbours!  We had so much in common with them.  Susan and I were both teachers and we both had a husband named Ken!  As well, both couples were landscaping their yards and helped each other out.  When we laid our turf, Ken and Susan decided to do some time-lapse photography of the process and make a slideshow out of it!




Later, the two Kens got together to make some really hilarious amateur videos.  I wish I could share a couple with you, but they are in VHS format and I don't have time to change them. They got the idea to call their amateur video company Two Ken Productions and their logo was a little toucan.

I know you're thinking:  "Okay, how could she POSSIBLY use this intro to talk about a card?"
Believe it or not, there is a tie-in!  I was looking for some ideas to complete the Dynamic Duos Challenge #69:

The bright colours made me think of a children's card and I wanted to use my new Label Card Thinlet to make a swing card.  I looked through my stamp sets and my eye caught the Zoo Babies set.  Then I saw the Yippee-Skippee sentiment stamp set, which I thought might have something for a kid's card.  When I sat down and opened both stamp sets, that's when the magic happened.

I simultaneously caught sight of the little toucan in Zoo Babies and the sentiment "Never Underestimate the Power of Two"  and I had a major brain wave:  Here it is:

I laughed myself silly at the idea!  That, however, is where the magic ended!  I had no end of trouble getting the whole thing together.  I coloured those silly little toucans about 5 times.  I had trouble with the "cans" part.  At first I found the word "can" on another stamp in the same set and used it, but then I could not find an S to add on that was the same size or font.  Then my daughter suggested I use an alphabet set and stamp each letter separately.  Duh!  Of course!  So I got out my ABC-123 Sketched Alphabet and Numbers and that worked fairly well, but it was bigger and harder to fit the two toucans on.  Stamp-a-ma-jig to the rescue!

Anyway, with some other minor difficulties solved, I finally got the card made!  Who would have thought that such a simple card could create so many problems.  Probably just not my day!

Never underestimate the power of toucans!

Stamps:  Zoo Babies (w130453; c130456); Yippee-Skippee (w131341; c131344); ABC-123 Sketched Alphabet & Numbers (c130565)
Paper:  Brights Collection Designer Series Paper Stacks (Old Olive) (130134); Pacific Point (111350) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock
Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Pacific Point (126951); Stampin' Write Markers in Pacific Point (as part of the Brights Collection) (131259) and Old Olive (100079)
Accessories:  Brights Collection Glimmer Brads (121006);  1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon in Pacific Point (126878)
Tools:  Label Card Thinlets (133479); Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049); Big Shot (113439)

ABC-123 Sketched Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Set

Zoo Babies Stamp Set

Brights Designer Series Paper Stacks

Brights Glimmer Brads

Pacific Point 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Label Card Thinlits

Stamp-a-ma-jig

Pals Paper Arts Under the Wire

Good Monday Morning!  I spent yesterday, after getting home from church, trying to get my Design 101 class together.  It's a bit trickier to plan because, rather than have everyone duplicate a card, I am giving them some variable options, so figuring out what to cut and how many of each is definitely challenging.  We will be learning how to use a layout sketch tonight and so I've taken sketches from some of the sketch challenges I've completed over the year and gradually offered them more and more choices, from colour and card orientation, to stamp sets to use and embellishments.  Each of the 3 projects gets more and more input from each of the participants.

It was late when I finished, but I still needed a blog post for today, so I decided to do the Pals Paper Arts Challenge #170 for last week, and I posted late Sunday night instead of early Monday morning, so I just squeaked in under the wire!  Phew!

I found the colour challenge palette a bit odd.  I don't think I would have ever come up with this on my own.  Here it is:

I was partly inspired for this card by a Pinterest card in black and white with a rosette and flourishes.

I don't know whose design it is because the link just led me back to the Splitcoast Stampers Home page.  If you know, please leave me a comment so I can give the proper recognition.  Anyway, I loved it at first sight and you can see how it influenced my design.

• I used A Round Array stamp set to create the circlet for the top of the rosette, which is made from Eastern Elegance DSP in Crushed Curry. I punched it out using the coordinating 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch and several other Scallop Circle punches for the other layers.  The one that might stump you is the Early Espresso layer.  That was actually the result of a mistake.  Let me fill you in:
• I found the greatest Stamp Set for this card, one that I had rarely, if ever used before:  Sent with Love.  Only after I had everything together, did I remember that it had been retired last year.  I thought I had cleaned out all my retired stamp sets.  I guess not!!  The Early Espresso layer is stamped with one of those images, but I liked it so much, I kept it and just put another image over top.

• I inked up Flowering Flourishes with Midnight Muse ink for the flourish you see on the Whisper White and added some Pearl Basic Jewels.
• Where you see the flag with one of the sentiments from Banner Greetings in Early Espresso, was actually a sentiment from Sent with Love, that I had to cover up.
• Anyway, I'm happy with the results, and maybe the colour combo isn't as weird as I thought!

Just a reminder that you still have time to play the "As You See It Challenge" for this week.  I hope you will give it a try!  Check out the rest of the Design Team's samples!  I know you're going to love them.

Stamps:  Flowering Flourishes (w131998; c126367); A Round Array (w129087; c129090); Banner Greetings (w129711; c129714); Sent with Love (retired)

Paper:  Eastern Elegance DSP (130131); Early Espresso (119686), Midnight Muse (126843), Crushed Curry (131199) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Midnight Muse (126860) and Early Espresso (126974)

Accessories:  Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

Tools:  Designer Rosette Bigz XL die (125594) *; 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (129404); 1 1/4" Circle Punch (119861); 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch (119854) and the 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (118874); Sticky Strip (104294); Big Shot (113439)

*needs Extended Premium Crease Pad (117630) and Extended Cutting Pad (113478)

A Round Array Stamp Set

Banner Greetings Stamp Set

Designer Rosettes Bigz XL Die

Eastern Elegance DSP

Flowering Flourishes Stamp Set

Pearl Basic Jewels

70 Years Young

Yesterday, I went to a birthday party for a good friend. He turned 70!  (Yes, I have friends that are that old!)  He is an amazing guy with more energy than many half his age.  He is also mischievous and loves to tease and has a sharp wit!  Art and his wife, Michelle, have been our close friends for many years, but we don't see them as often since they moved out in the country a ways. However, when we do get together, the conversation just picks up where it left off in an easy and relaxed way. Good friends are like that!                                                                   

I made a card for his 70th birthday and I wanted it to be really special.  It's not everyday that someone turns 70, you know.  (Well, to be truthful, I guess everyday someone, somewhere, does turn seventy, but I don't know them!) 

                     

• Art was a farm boy growing up, so I chose the Harvest Blessings stamp set.  I absolutely love that old tractor image and I used Cajun Craze ink to stamp it with.  
• The sentiments are both in Early Espresso and the top one is a compilation of stamps from the Memorable Moments stamp set.  I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get them lined up just the way I wanted them.
• The DSP in the background is from the Sweater Weather collection.

• The shape of the front panel is a die cut made with the new Deco Labels Collection Framelits.  I sponged around the edge of the Very Vanilla label with Cajun Craze to add some definition to it.
• I added another piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in behind the label to tone down the business of the plaid pattern and to show up the burlap ribbon a bit better.
• There's those versatile little Candy Dots again, this time in Early Espresso to match the sentiments.

Here's the inside, because I really liked the other sentiment from the Harvest Blessings set but didn't have room on the front:

• I know that Art feels blessed because he has a large, close extended family, and because he has a strong faith that sees him through the rough times and the good times!
• The image and sentiment are also from Harvest Blessings.

Speaking of harvests, we're STILL trying to pick and disperse all our nectarines and plums.  If you want any, just let us know!  We're drowning in them!!

Stamps:  Harvest Blessings (w132016; c126452); Memorable Moments (w132039; c126682)

Paper:  Sweater Weather DSP (132184); Cajun Craze (119684), Early Espresso (119686) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Early Espresso (126974) and Cajun Craze (126965)

Accessories:  1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon (132140); Neutrals Collection Candy Dots (130934)

Tools:  Deco Labels Collection Framelits (130102); Stamping Sponges (101610); Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049)

Guest Stamper and Cute Wedding Card

My daughter, Kristen, was staying with us this past week along with her hubby, David, and my little grandson, Kesten!  Such fun!  Kris wanted to make a wedding card for her friend, in whose wedding Kristen was a bridesmaid. She needed a very unconventional wedding card because her friend is very unconventional as well.  Kristen's bridesmaid dress was actually a red polka dot skirt with a white t shirt. 

The wedding invites sported an old fashioned penny farthing bicycle and there were some chalkboard decor items at the wedding as well.  Here's what Kristen created:

• I think it's just adorable, and because it's not a traditional wedding card, it could be used for many different occasions!
• When I was showing Kris my stash of DSP, her eye caught the Polka Dot Parade package right away and this piece was perfect, because it mirrored her bridesmaid skirt.
• Looking over my stamp sets, she picked out Timeless Talk right away as well, because of the same type of bicycle that was on the wedding invitation.

• I showed her how to do the Faux Chalkboard technique and how to use framelits to cut out images, and she used the Labels Collection Framelits to cut out the bicycle and the Apothecary Accents framelits to die cut the sentiment which is from the set Layered Labels, which just happens to coordinate with the Apothecary Accents framelits.
• She stamped the images in VersaMark ink and heat embossed them with White Stampin' Emboss powder.  Then she sponged some Whisper White Craft Ink around the edges and very sparingly in the middle.
• She chose bright Daffodil Delight as the card base and used some 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Daffodil Delight to accent the card with a fork bow.

I love the cheeriness of this card.  It just seems to say "Celebrate!"  I'm sure the newlyweds will love it!

Thanks for dropping by!

Stamps:  Timeless Talk (w126605; c126607); Layered Labels (w132028; c127072)

Paper:  Polka Dot Parade DSP (126902); Daffodil Delight (119683) and Basic Black (121045) cardstock

Ink:  VersaMark (102283); Whisper White Craft Ink (101731)

Accessories:  1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Daffodil Delight (retired); Stampin' Emboss Powder in White (109132)

Tools:  Labels Collection Framelits (125598), Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003), Heat Tool (129053), Stamping Sponges (101610)

Timeless Talk Stamp Set

Layered Labels Stamp Set

Apothecary Accents Framelits

Labels Collection Framelits

Heat Tool

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Whisper White Craft Ink

Polka Dot Parade DSP