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StampInsanity Stamps SNEAK PEEK!!

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Category : Cards, Events, Minimalist Cards, SH Shop, StampInsanity Stamps

coming-soonYou want to see a little sneaky peek at the first set of stamp releases in the Stamp Happens Shop reveal next week?? The Stamp Happens Shop will be the exclusive provider of the fab, hip, edgy new designs by StampInsanity Rubber Stamp Designs!

The first two collections will be released Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

 

Calling all you supernatural creature lovers!!! Listen up!! Otherwordly Loves is your set!

Love Twilight? Sookie Stackhouse? For all you paranormal princesses out there…this is what you’ve been waiting for!!!

For all you Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Eric Northman lovers…this card is your dream come true…

“Two words…”

 

Book 3 my friends, Club Dead by Charlaine Harris.

 

 

“Pink. Spandex.”

Who is freaking??? YEAH!!!! I KNOW!!! RIGHT???

I kept this card super simple. What else do you do when your sentiment says “two words”…you can’t make it anything except simple!

I used the ultra fun Popsicle designer paper from BoBunny for this card. I threw in ribbon, paper and ink in Mambo Melon from SU!.

 

Why don’t you run on over to Jen’s blog and see her sneak peek too. And don’t forget to visit StampInsanity Rubber Stamp Designs! You’ll get a couple of other samples.

 

 

sisbadgeLovin’ it already? Grab the new StampInsanity Stamps badge and proudly display my friends! Let the blogging world know you love it!

Be sure to check back next Wednesday for the full reveal! You’ll be able to order your set then!

Special Challenge Time!

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Category : Cards, Club Scrap, Minimalist Cards, TTIC Special Challenge

clubscraplogo We’re back with another special Wednesday challenge! Today we’ll be doing our first of two challenges sponsored by Club Scrap. (See below for information on next week’s second Club Scrap challenge.) For today’s challenge, Club Scrap has generously provided members of our Design Team with their Greetings to Go-From the Heart kits. You can see the kit, and shop online, at Club Scrap’s site. And today, we’re changing it up a bit – we’re doing our first Limited Supplies Challenge! And we are really giving you a challenge today – no embellishments are permitted on this one. We’ll have to stretch ourselves a little bit!

Here are the details:

Which items are acceptable to use?

Paper-related items:

Cardstock & designer paper

Stamps

Ink and other coloring mediums (markers, pencils, gel pens)

Die cutting/embossing machine, along with dies and embossing folders

Paper punches

What is not permitted:

Embellishments of any type – including brads, eyelets, hardware, buttons, ribbon, Stickles, Shimmerz, Prima flowers, Dew Drops, etc.

So give it a shot and see what you can come up with using just the basics! We’d love you to play along with us! Leave us a comment and let us know if you play along. And this week, half of our Design Team has played along; see below for links to today’s projects:

Design Team Members: JulieJenTonya

Guest Design Team Members: JacquieDonna

And about next week’s Club Scrap challenge – that theme will be announced next Wednesday, August 12th, and the other half of our Design Team will be working on that one. Be sure to check back with us next week for that!

So. Wow. Limited supplies. This is definitely stretching me friends! I’m an embellishment freak! But I like a challenge. And the challenge can’t beat me…I must overcome!!

So here is what I made:

ttic club scrap 001

Club Scrap provided the card stock to make this card, as noted above in the challenge. The windows were precut in this set. I layered the windows and added the “cherish” sentiment and flowers. I decided to keep this elegant and simple. Less is more sometimes!

ttic club scrap 002

See the texture on this card stock? It’s a very interesting texture and makes the card more interesting. Big thanks to Club Scrap!

One more thing. Remember my new puppies? Well, here are my babies now at 2 months:

daisy and zoe 003

This is my very sweet baby Zoe who crawls into my lap and over my laptop so I’ll hold her. Then she flops over on her back so I’ll hold her like a baby. Isn’t she precious?

daisy and zoe 004

And this is my equally sweet baby Daisy with my darling son, Daniel. She’s the runt of the litter, but she will fight tooth and nail for any scrap of food she can get. These little puppies are an absolute joy!!

Easy Peasy Cards

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Category : Big Shot, Cards, Cuttlebug, Die Cutting & Embossing, Minimalist Cards, PaperTrey Ink, Stampin' Up! Stamps

Today, I’d like to share some super easy cards I made last week. These cards are great to make when you’re in a pinch for something really easy and fast. Like the birthday you forgot, or the thank you note you need to send.

stamphappens072109 004

This picture is a bit dark. When I changed stamping areas, I changed photo sites. It just hasn’t been working so I’ve since changed my photo site back to the old place. So please forgive my dark picture!

I used a monochromatic color scheme of white and Melon Mambo. My white paper is from PaperTrey Ink and the Melon Mambo is Stampin’ Up. I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder Bloom Dots for the background. Then I added the sentiment (Stampin’ Up! but suddenly the name slipped my mind!) and ribbon. This card is so simple!

stamphappens072109 005

Isn’t it sweet? On Thursday, I’ll show you another version of this type of card but using another folder and blinging it up a bit.

stamphappens072109 006

And here is the same card with a different sentiment. Lots of possibilities! Let me tell you stampers, if you don’t have a die cutting machine (Cuttlebug, Big Shot, etc.) you are totally missing out!!

Speaking of Minimalist Cards…

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Category : Cards, Coloring Techniques, Minimalist Cards, Stampin' Up! Stamps

I ran across this beautiful card by Alesha and decided to CASE it. Alesha calls hers “pure and simple stamping” and she is right on target! Her card is simply stunning so be sure to go and leave her a comment!

Anyway, I’m going to CASE it here for you with a few minor changes, add-ons, and twists. Remember, this is a minimalist card so you only need a few supplies:

One change I’m making in my CASE is that I’m only going to use the Dreams du Jour stamp set.

The other change I made was using Riding Hood Red rather than Ruby Red. This card uses RHR, and Basic Black (Stampin’ Write Marker) ink; RHR and Whisper White card stock. The card is standard cut. I should’ve taken my picture at an angle…oh well…I used the stamp off technique (stamp down once, then immediately down again for a lighter effect) for the lighter butterflies. And it is done!!

But let’s talk a little about how I colored my sentiment. When there are two (or more) colors I want on a stamp, here is how I accomplish it…

The easy way would be to use MMMs (the complete set of Stampin’ Write Markers) to shade the words. However, I want to use RHR and SU! doesn’t sell Stampin’ Write Markers in In Colors (Booo!!!! Hisssss!!!!). Instead, I have to ink up the sentiment in my RHR In Color.

Then I need to remove the color from the places I don’t want it to be. I use a damp Q-Tip.

Then, I can color the word with my Stampin’ Write Marker, to get this…

And if I really want to get creative, I can do this…

These are 4×4″ versions of the original card. I simply tore the sides to show off more of that fantastic RHR textured paper (yes, it’s the same card). The sentiment is from the stamp set A Beautiful Thing.

But if you want to take this card to an advanced level, you can get this…

I dry embossed the sides and added the 3-D butterflies (with Stickles on them!) as well as the scallop circle with “always” on it. The “always” is from the Always stamp set. Here’s a closer look with better coloring…

I also used Pink Pirouette instead of stamping off. I added a layer of PP card stock as well.

I love this card design! I made 3 cards using it!! Thanks, Alesha!

Another Minimalist Card Using a Joy Fold

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Category : Instructions, Minimalist Cards, Stampin' Up! Stamps

I decided to show you just how fantastic a minimalist card can look. And what better way than to CASE one of Beate’s designs??? This particular card style is called a Joy Fold Card. My design is very similar to the design Beate used in this tutorial…hence, it is a “CASE” or a Copy And Share Everything card. CASEs are great as long as you credit the person you got the CASE from! So, Beate gets credit for the original design.

Here is the card. It’s pretty simple really. Here’s what you need for this card…

Hopefully, you already have some stickles, paper snips, and few markers. Additionally, you’ll need a large tag punch, some ribbon, and an ink pad that matches your paper. Speaking of paper, I’m using Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze, and some designer paper from the Bella Rose series. Having a set of designer paper is always a wise idea. And the new Bella Rose is divine!! Oh! You will also notice a blender pen. Another MUST!!! I just realized a very important supply item is not pictured–a white gel pen. A white gel pen will save your life. Well, not really, but it is a card saver. Not only can it make appropriate highlights on your card, it can also create faux stitching, dots, and even act as white out on mistakes. YOU NEED ONE!!!

For this card, I used my Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write marker to shade the Love image and then stamped it onto Whisper White card stock. Just a scrap piece is all that’s necessary. Then I used the same marker to shade the Van Gogh sentiment. I also used my Rose Red to shade the LOVE part. Then I stamped onto the designer paper. I sponged some Rose Red around the edges (optional) and then added faux stitching with my white gel pen. I shaded the butterfly image in Rose Red and stamped it on the paper. Before cleaning the stamp, I stamped another butterfly image on the paper (right beside the square, Love image). This is called stamping off. Then, using my Baja Breeze ink pad, I stamped the butterfly image onto the Baja Breeze textured card stock I used. On a scrap piece, I stamped another butterfly image and cut it out with my snips. I carefully folded the wings upward and placed a mini dot on the body of the butterfly and stuck it on the designer paper. I added Stickles to the butterflies.

The Baja Breeze flower on the Love image was colored using a blender pen and the Baja Breeze ink pad. You can touch the tip of the blender pen onto the ink pad and then color directly on your image. Repeat the process until your image is colored. You just make marks back and forth on a scrap piece of paper to remove any extra ink. I then colored the rest of the image, and cut it out with my snips. I punched a large tag out of a piece of the designer paper. Using a Stampin’ Dimensional, I put the Love image onto the tag. I used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the tag so I could put the ribbon through it. Then I adhered the tag as per Beate’s instructions. Then I added Stickles to the flower. BTW, that is a picture of the card as it is beginning to open.

This is how the card looks when it is fully open. I haven’t stamped a sentiment on the inside yet. I usually don’t until I’m ready to give the card to someone.

I hope you enjoyed this fun, easy to make card!

I have a Stampin’ Around Wheel…NOW what?

Category : Bella Stamps, Challenges, Instructions, Minimalist Cards, NOW what?, Stampin' Up! Stamps

Continuing on with my "NOW what" series…

Now that you have your basic supplies, we’re going to talk about "minimalist" cards. A "minimalist" card uses minimal supplies so that anyone can make them. Everyone needs to start somewhere and these cards are it!

Ok, so you have some basic supplies. Now you’re ready to start a card….

MIND GOES BLANK!! Then you start with "What do I do? Where do I start? What do I use?"

TIP: If you don’t know where to start, try a challenge…Splitcoaststampers has these Weekly Challenges.

TIP: You should start with SKETCH CHALLENGES. Sketch challenges give you the design of your card. This is often the biggest help.

TIP: Splitcoaststampers has sketch challenges on Wednesdays.

There are some wonderful blogs out there with some fun sketch challenges.  Find a sketch challenge you’d like to try. Today we are going to use Jamie’s Bella Sketch Challenge BSC41.

Here it is:

BSC41

So, using this sketch, let’s start with a Stampin’ Around wheel minimalist card.

Since the directions are long, HERE THEY ARE.

And here is the finished card.

Let me know if this series is going to be helpful…

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