Stamp Happens » products

Summer Frogs

Posted on 20-07-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Cards, SH Shop, SWMs, Spica Pens, Stampin' Up! Stamps, products

Tags: Cards, fancy folds, frogs, handmade, jan tink, stamp happens, tonya allen

I’ve been wanting to make one of these “fancy fold” cards since I saw it on Jan Tink’s blog over a month ago! It’s finally my turn!

I followed Tonya Allen’s instructions for mine. However, I noticed Jan resized hers to fit a standard A2 envelope which I will definitely do next time I make this card!

I was blessed Saturday with a day out with two of my good friends. We went to a LSS where I picked up some wonderful Bazzill Bling cardstock. This stuff is so gorgeous. I know everyone has been using it for awhile now but not me. And boy, would I like some more!!

So this is the card all folded up.

Oh, and let me tell you…this is one sparkly card! I’ve got so much sparkle on this card, you might need sunglasses!

Here is the card opened up…

So let’s talk sparkle…

I used retired Raspberry Tart designer paper from Stampin’ Up!. I also used the new In Color, Melon Mambo. I used Melon Mambo card stock, ribbon, and marker on this frog. I also used Stickles (Icicle) to cover the frog’s belly and spots. I used Waterfall Stickles on the water. And I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to color the image. Oh, I almost forgot, the Bazzill Bling is Emerald City.

Isn’t this just too cute?

This image…oh my! I used Spica pens for this image (where you see glitter). Can I just say I adore Spicas? I’m off to order some now so be expecting those little goodies in my shop very soon.

I know exactly who is getting this little card. Because if my sister doesn’t receive it, I’ll be absolutely disowned. She adores frogs, green and bright colors. So it’s hers.

Battle of the Inks! Which Black Ink is THE Best?

Posted on 22-06-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : SH Shop, Stamp Co. & Products, Stampin' Up! Stamps, products

Tags: best, black ink, brillance, rubber stamps, stampin up, stazon, versafine

This week, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on black ink. I’ll walk you through four different black inks and you can decide which you think is best…you know, fair and balanced…

I’ll share my personal picks too.

So let’s get started!

We’ll be looking at Jet Black StazOn, Onyx Black Versafine, Graphite Black Brilliance, and Basic Black Stampin’ Up! inks.

I started off by stamping each ink onto a piece of white card stock (PaperTrey Ink).

You should click the image to get a larger view. It can be a little difficult to see the differences in this smaller picture. I noticed several differences immediately:

1. The Brilliance Graphite Black ink was significantly lighter than the other inks. Although my image was thoroughly inked, the color was still more grayish than the other inks.

2. The Stampin’ Up! Basic Black ink is messier and more smudged than the others.

Let’s look individually:

I am highly impressed with the Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink. The image stamped clearly, brightly, and detailed. The black color is nice and the ink was easy to clean from the rubber. I’ve never really used this ink but I’m impressed. I can’t wait to work with it some more!

I admit it, I’m a die hard fan of StazOn Jet Black. I’m sure that isn’t a surprise to anyone who has been reading my blog for long. You’ll quickly see that this is the ink I most often use. The color is bright and crisp. It doesn’t smudge and it’s pretty easy to clean of the rubber. I don’t really see a difference between this ink and the Versafine.

I’m not personally impressed with Brilliance Graphite Black. I don’t think it is “brilliant” at all. I was surprised how lightly the image appeared when I stamped it despite the rubber being fully inked. This ink has a gray appearance to me. The ink stamps crisply enough. I just don’t think it is bright enough.

As much as I love Stampin’ Up!, this ink is a total disappointment. Although the image appears bright, the ink is smudged. It’s also very messy. I always have a hard time inking up rubber with this ink. It seems gloppy and pools together in the creases of the rubber. The smudging is more apparent around areas of fine detail like the book, the braids, the eyes, and the strawberry. It is also extremely hard to clean. SU! warns the ink is permanent. And it is. It stains your rubber very easily along with anything else it touches. Another issue with SU!’s Basic Black is it’s purplish tint. I don’t care for the purple tint at all.

These are two of the wipes I used to clean off the ink from the rubber between stamping images. The wipe that says “All others”…I used this same wipe to clean THREE inks of the image. See the Stampin’ Up! purple one? I had to use a separate wipe and immediately throw it away. The ink stains everything it touches and smears around too. I hate cleaning up SU! Basic Black ink.

My pick for best ink? Tie between Jet Black StazOn and Black Onyx Versafine!

Wednesday, I’ll discuss which inks to use when coloring with Copics. Until then, do you have a favorite black ink pad? What is it?

Shop Preview and a Sympathy Card

Posted on 25-05-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Cards, Events, products

Tags: bia, Bind-It-All, Cards, dew drops, fiskars, glue glider, glueglider pro, handmade, pearls, ranger, sakura pens, shimmerz, Stamp Co. & Products, stampin up, stickles, sympathy cards

Hi Stampers! I need some help. As you are aware, my new shop will be launching next Monday. The goal of my shop is to share the products I’ve recommended to you. My favorites…the ones I’ve tried and love.

I’m really looking for some feedback though. I’d love to know what products you love and ones I should try! I have capabilities of getting a lot of products but since I’m not a Rockefeller, I’m having to pick and choose for the time being. So I’m curious about products that I “must have.” Leave me comments! Get specific, it’s ok!

Here’s a sneak peak of products that will be available:

Shimmerz and Blingz
GlueGlider Pro
Robin’s Nest Dew Drops
Bind It All
Sakura Pens (see Julie’s post)
Terrifically Tacky Tape
Fiskars cutting products
Stickles
Liquid Pearls
and more!!

I made this card last week for my dearest Julie who recently suffered a loss in her family. Losses are always a difficult thing. People don’t generally know what to say, or what to do. However, a handmade card goes a loooooong way.

I picked a color scheme that I knew Julie would adore. I used retired designer paper and colors from last season’s SU! In Colors (Groovy Guava and Soft Sky). I even had the matching ribbon!

I used a blender pen to soak in the Groovy Guava ink to create a “marker” so I could color these flowers. This image and sentiment are from the Thoughts & Prayers set (SU!). I used Always Artichoke for the stems and leaves.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. I am completely grateful for the people who serve and have served in our military. I know today is a special day for those who have died in service and I take this very seriously. I am sincerely moved while I’m watching memorial services. I get very teary-eyed when I think of our military and the people who serve in it. I wonder if it’s because I spent so long in San Antonio? There is something truly moving about living near military bases and seeing so many people walking around in uniforms. Even now it’s taking my breath away. Thank you to all our military (currently active and retired)…and their spouses.

White Gel Pen: Why you NEED one.

Posted on 19-04-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Coloring Techniques, SWMs, Sugar Nellies, products

Attention!! I realized I had a small error in the vertical box tutorial. It has been corrected. If you downloaded the tutorial before today, please re-download! Thanks and enjoy!

White Gel Pens. If you don’t have a quality white gel pen…go buy one NOW! I use the white gel pens Stampin’ Up! sells (Buy from me!! lol). The ink is a pigment ink so it covers well. A high quality white gel pen is your friend. Let me show you why…

Remember when I colored this image with my Stampin’ Write Markers?

Originally I added the gray outline to show the same technique used when coloring with Copics.

Well, obviously, this line is much to dark for this image. So, is my image ruined?

NO!!

This is where owning a white gel pen will make you very, very happy…

Correcting with a white gel pen:

Using my white gel pen, I can easily cover ink mistakes that I want to remove.

In the picture shown on the right, I can either remove part of my gray line, or all of it. This picture shows partial removal.

Obviously, this is really only going to work if you are using white paper as your base. Occasionally, you may need to let the white ink dry and apply another coat. Especially if you are covering red ink.

See how the gray is being “removed”? The ink has not dried quite yet.

How many images could you save using this technique??!!

Are you drooling yet?

Here is the image with the gray line removed. Looks pretty good, huh?

GO GET A WHITE GEL PEN!!!

Make sure it’s a good quality pen though.

Oh, and are you still wondering what my little girl noticed that I did not?

I corrected it…

I failed to finish shading the flowers on the girl’s hat. See? Look above.

I added the red and green low lights while I was correcting the gray line. Who knew??

If you love this tip, be sure to comment! Comments keep me motivated!

Strawberry Tea and a Scor-Tape Review

Posted on 16-04-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Big Shot, Cards, Challenges, Nestabilities, SWMs, Stampin' Up! Stamps, Sugar Nellies, products

Dani hosts Twilight Tuesday’s Sketch Challenge each month and I’ve been horrible because I haven’t done one yet… So this is the month! I’m doing the challenge. In fact, I’m doing two. One, I will post today, one tomorrow.

This is the sketch design Dani gave us. If you’d like to play along with us, please visit the link above for details!

I used Kiwi Kiss textured card stock for the 5 1/4” square base. I also used Summer Picnic designer paper (retired), Whisper White and Real Red card stock. I used Stampin’ Write Markers to color my image. Also used: scallop punch, scallop die, circle Nestabilities, Real Red striped grosgrain ribbon, large oval punch, 1 3/8: punch, retired A Perfect Day rub-ons.

Obviously, I interpreted Dani’s sketch liberally. I don’t really have ovals (I do but they’re harder to work with that Nesties…I have the Creative Memories oval cutting system) so I changed mine to a circle. I also widened the “v” portion.

The sentiment I used here is from the SU! set Sweet Serendipity. I’m giving this card to one of my close friends. All moments with her are serendipity sweet.

Isn’t this the cutest image…for real? I love it.

This card opens a little differently. See?

I made a diagonal cut on one side and used the cut piece to cross back over for the front. Clear as mud?

You may get a better idea by looking at the inside…

So I used the scallop circle die for the inside. I stamped the little strawberry on it and I’ll write my message there too.

Do you love it as much as I do?

So, one more thing before I go today. If you noticed yesterday on my Spring-Summer Subscriber Challenge post, I listed Scor-Tape as one of my new favorite things.

Recently, I read a product review on Scor-Tape from SCS. I was interested in it because…well, it’s new. And it’s from Scor-Pal. So of course I wanted to try it. Well, the most interesting thing I read was that the tape can be torn. Whoa…back up…TORN? THAT is interesting.

So I bought some. I bought the 1/4” and the 1/8”.

Normally I use the sticky red tape (SU! Sticky Strip, Tacky Tape, etc.). One think I hate about the red tape is the static cling of the red backing. That is so darn irritating!! But the stuff is good, kwim?

I tried the Scor-Tape on the vertical box I made. I was so thoroughly impressed that it is my new top choice for strong adhesive.

Let me tell you what the SCS article doesn’t. Besides the fact that you can easily tear the tape instead of cutting it, you can also move it. If you accidentally put it in the wrong spot, as long as it hasn’t been smushed down, you can move it. It’s awesome! And it holds like you wouldn’t believe. It’s just as reliable as the red sticky tape. The best part: Scor-Tape is $3.45 for 27 yards; SU! Sticky Strip is $6.95 for 10 yards; and Terrifically Tacky Tape is $2.44 for 5 yards. ‘Nuff said.

Spring-Summer Subscriber Challenge

Posted on 15-04-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Blog Candy, Copics, Nestabilities, Promotions, Stampin' Up! Stamps, products

You know how you’re taught “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade?” Well, life handed me lemons lately with my computer woes followed by a brief feed subscriber “issue”. So I’m making lemonade. I really appreciate you all being patient with me. And I want to reward you!!

So here’s the deal. I’m challenging myself to increase my subscriber readership. And my subscribers get the rewards!!

My first goal: Double my readership. I WANT 500 followers!!!
My second goal: Increase by another 250 followers.
My third goal: I want 1000 followers!!!

When I hit each of these numbers of followers, I will suddenly announce a blog candy giveaway for 48 hours. This will give newsletter readers a chance to participate. The announcement will be sudden so you’ll have to subscribe to be in the know.

For 48 hours I’ll give my readers the chance to comment for a chance to win the prezzie (see below for prezzies). The winner will be chosen using random.org. And you must tell me why you like following my blog. Your answers will help me determine what I feature more of. So be nice!

You can subscribe to me via email or RSS. See the dude sitting on the ~~toilet~~ bench reading? You can click him for an RSS feed.

See the “Updates via Feedblitz”? You can click the mail envelope and the RSS icon? You can click either of these for email updates or RSS feeds. All kinds of choices friends!! SUBSCRIBE!! GET THOSE NUMBERS UP!!!

1. Canon PIXMA iP2600SE Photo Printer (500 Followers)

Product Features:

Ink jet printer delivers outstanding photo prints and text quality
Prints photos at a maximum resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi
Borderless photo prints
Specially formulated pigment black ink gives laser-quality text
Compact size for easy placement

2. A Few of My Favorite Things (750 Followers)

Copic Ciao Markers: 8 Piece Set – Primary Copic Marker Set.

These Copic Markers are perfect for stamping, fabric, and vellum. All Copic stamping markers are refillable, dye-based, permanent alcohol markers that dry acid free. It also includes 1 archival, pigment-based inking pen.

Angel Wings Shimmerz

Shimmerz are highly iridescent, waterbased, non-toxic paints. They adhere to nearly anything including metal and acetate. They dry within minutes. They come in a sealed 1/4 oz jar premixed and ready to use .

1/4” Scor-Tape

Scor-Tape is an amazing product. It is a premium double sided adhesive,best on the market, acid free, heat resistant and incredibly sticky tape. It can be used with embossing powders, foils, beads, glitter, ribbon etc. It is the perfect permanent adhesive for card making, boxes, books and Iris Folding.

Spellbinders Nestabilities Label 1

This set of 6 concentric dies is so versatile. It’s a go-anywhere, do-anything kind of Die Template set that works overtime in your collection. Part of the Nestabilities line, the dies cut increasing frames at ¼” all the way around. This makes cutting, matting, framing and embossing simple and gives beautiful results.

3. $100 Stampin’ Up! ® Gift Certificate (1000 Followers)

This gift certificate will be honored through me only. Shipping costs will also be paid by me. The order will be directly shipped to the winner.

Please note: All prizes are good for United States players only. If an international player wins, a like valued Amazon Gift Certificate will be issued in place of the prizes.

TTIC#27: Jasper Hale!

Posted on 14-04-2009 | By: Tonya

Category : Blog Candy, Challenges, Nestabilities, Scrapbook Pages, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration, products

Lovely Julie has issued our Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge this week and she’s chosen the awesomeness of Jasper Hale!!

Julie’s challenge:

“The creative part of this challenge is to make a piece that says “Jasper” to you. And the comment portion for this week is all about Jasper’s amazing calming abilities. What do you like to do to create that Jasper-style calm for yourself? Tell us about it!”

TTIC #27 Details Here!!

Be sure to see what the other design team members have created! (Do you love this day of the week as much as I do??)

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca

BTW: Twilight Tuesday just opened a new Amazon store. We’d love it if you’d shop through us. All purchases you make when you go through our Amazon search box, links on our site, or through my Good Reads books in my sidebar ( ) help us fund fantastic contests and prizes, blog candy, and site maintenance.

So, let’s see what I made for this week! I seriously love Jasper. And I love this promo picture of Jasper. I’m hoping he won’t look so harsh in New Moon, but you know what? I love Jasper. Team Jasper, baby!! I think it’s because my anxiety could use some Jasper, KWIM?

I chose very soft colors for this 6 x 6” scrap page. The paper I used is from Bella Birds (SU!). I also used Going Gray textured card stock.

It isn’t possible for me to make something without a little bling. But, I tried to keep it to a minimum.

Look at that face!!! Gorgeous. Personally, I really like Jasper’s hair in this picture. I wish it would’ve looked more like this in Twilight (the movie). I’m excited to see how he’ll look in New Moon!!

I added some Robin's Nest Dew Drops (silver). And a little silver Prima flower. I also used my new set of Spellbinders Nestabilities: Labels 4.

But of course my favorite part is a saying I saw on the internet:

Jasper: Exactly my brand of Prozac.

This kills me. Seriously. Eli Lily would have a serious problem if Jasper really existed, huh? Oh, to have the ability to calm or excite those surrounding you…that would be an awesome gift.

And of course Julie asked what I do to create that Jasper-style calm for myself. Let’s see…

1. Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft (insert your SSRI of choice here), Xanax, Valium or Buspar