Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Market Fresh


This stamp set (Market Fresh) wasn't originally on my wish list, then after looking through the catalog a few times I kept coming back to it for some reason.  So I bought it, I'm so glad I did!  I pulled out the grape image first and stamped it on some watercolor paper. If you're going to watercolor I recommend using the watercolor paper, it really makes it so much easier and you'll be much happier with the final result.  Don't get itimdated just because it has a fancy name, it's the same as any other paper just holds water better :)
To color it I used an aquapainter and some markers.  I scribbled my markers on a clear block then used my aqua painter to pick up the colors.  I used the same colors that are in the coordinating DSP.  Stampin' Up! has already figured out they work, why mess with it!  I used Mossy Meadow and Old Olive for the Green, Hello Honey and Tangerine Tango for the banner and Blackberry Bliss and a tiny bit of Cherry Cobbler for the grapes.  The Cherry Cobbler adds a nice depth to the coloring.  To finish the card I added some splatter from my aqua painter.....this wasn't really planned but I had accidentally splattered some ink on it and had to go with it.  No mistakes, just creative opportunities :)  I also added some glitter from the Wink of Stella Glitter Pen that I got on Amazon (Stampin' Up! PLEASE carry this pen!!!!!), I love the sparkle it gives.  After the card was completely assembled I put some Crystal Effects over the banner.  Between the sparkle and the shine of the Crystal Effects this card is so pretty!!!  I want to color the lettuce image next :)  Do you have this set?
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Monday, June 29, 2015

The After.....

Well after a VERY long week, the big re-do of my craft room is done.  I had a few questions along the way, so I'll get to those first before the rest of the after photos.  Q: Are you getting a new desk? Not right now, the desk and the filing cabinet were the only pieces of furniture that stayed.  Everything else was either put to use in a different part of the house or given away.  Q: Are you going to paint? No, we painting this room when we first moved in, it was a horrid, ugly green...bleh! The room is blue, we like the blue very much.  I do share this room with Dan, he has a small corner.  I've slowly taken over the room, but I've gone as far as I can go.....for now.  There were a few things that didn't change at all, my punch storage, I didn't photograph that but if you're interested I will.  My ink storage..you'll see in a minute.  This whole re-do was very much needed to re-organize everything!  The 'before' pictures you saw on Friday was a room that had worked for while, a long time actually, but just wasn't functional anymore for me.  I NEEDED a change!  The after pictures that you'll see in a minute are what works for me.  Ever crafter and stamper is unique and there's not one storage option that works for everyone.  My space is a decent size, you may have more options if your space is bigger, you may need more creative options if your space is smaller.  This works for me, if you have questions please feel free to post and I'll answer them if I can :)
Step one in the redo was getting the old furniture out.....that meant clearing everything off and in.....this hot mess is what was left.  It's literally piles of stuff, in no organizational matter.  One of my failures that I did run into was where I would put things during the transition.  Boxes would have been helpful, I did end up pulling out all my Thirty One Totes and shoving stuff in them.  You wouldn't know it by this picture but I did get rid of a lot of stuff, really I did!
I had everything cleared off and was ready for the new furniture by Wednesday of last week.  So really when the 'before' pictures posted I had most of my furniture put together!  I had planned for it to take much longer but it went quicker than I thought so we picked up the furniture on Wednesday instead of Friday!  I'm sure you can tell by the lovely orange cart where it was bought from.  I looked around a lot!  Home Depot was the best place I found to get this cube storage units.  Now before I start getting all the replies like "did you look here, there, etc" YES.  I know other places sell these, IKEA for one. We don't have an IKEA in New Mexico, I'd have to drive to Denver or Phoenix and I didn't want to pay for shipping.  So these are the Martha Stewart brand.  I'm not a giant Martha Stewart fan, but this style was what I wanted.  I also went with Home Depot because the Martha Stewart brand had a really cute bench that other brands didn't have.  It was a good buy, once the pieces were assembled I liked them even more.  They're really sturdy and they hold a lot!  I was worried when I was putting them together that I wouldn't have enough room but I actually have some extra room, room to grow :)  I got two of the 3x3 cubes and one of the 2x3 cubes and the bench.
Here's a look from the doorway at my room. That dark corner on the left, that's Dan's corner, I'm not going to share that part :)  The bench isn't huge, I knew it wouldn't be.  It's a little over 3 feet.  We're considering getting a second bench, perhaps down the road.  But I have some space on either side of the bench to store larger items, stuff I'm working on, orders I need to deliver, etc.  I love it!  You'll also have to excuse the window blinds in the pictures, they're beat up, my cat likes to chew on them...yes chew them!  Strange cat!  So some of them are broken because she's a weirdo cat!
I said earlier my desk didn't change, it's MUCH cleaner and MORE organized but I didn't really change much about it.  I still store my ink (pads and markers) mounted on my wall.  My dad made that unit.  I know other places sell similar ones.  My desk area works well, it was just so cluttered it was hard to function.  Hopefully...it will stay like this :)
My filing cabinet is also the same.  It has all my 8.5x11 cardstock.  It has worked really well for me.  Here's the first 3x3 cube unit.  This one is pretty much all stamp sets and Big Shot stuff.  Luckily I didn't have to take anything off this wall.  The plan is to take the Big Shot to my desk when I need to use it.
The top left cube has my platforms and my cutting plates and my bigz foam dies, though I don't have many of those left.  The next space is for my framelits and embossing folders.  My embossing folders are stored in wood mount cases.  It makes it really easy to just open the case and flip though them.  My framelits are in the process of moving to 6x6 albums for storage.  I'll post more on this another time.  But basically I put the framelits in one of the clear 6x6 sleeves, then I can flip through the book to find what I need.  The 6x6 albums I got at a big craft store.  The rest of the unit is for my stamp sets.  I have room to grow my stamp colletction all the way across the bottom.  The bottom right bin is mostly empty, it has a few empty clear mount cases and my tri pod in it.  If needed I'll move that and expand my stamp collection.  The stamps are also pulled up to the edge for easier access but if needed I could push them all the way back and have more storage in front of them too. 
I debated a loooooonnnnnnng time how to store them, I thought maybe one cube for Christmas, one for Birthdays, etc.  I decided against that and stored them alphabetically, mostly because there's so many times that one stamp set is used for multiple occasions or events and I didn't want to have to search through many cubes to find it or debate with every one I had where to store it.  I also spent some time last week converting my 4 sets that were left in the old wood mount cases into the new wood mount cases.  So everything is all the same now.  So much easier to store that way! 
I love that I have spaces now to show either stuff I've made and love or stuff that's been given to me.  I have a slight obession with sharpies, they have their own jar :)  My friend Kim gave me that framed pharase at the Craft And The City Scrapbook Weekend.  It's so cute it says "I like my money right where I can see it....in my craft room!"  So cute and up until now I had no where to display it!  Not anymore!
The bench is still a work in progress, there will be a cushion for the bench.  It came with one and if you like not attractive tan/beige color it's perfect for you.  I wanted it a little prettier so the cushion is currently at my parents house my mom is sewing me some covers for it.  I picked out 3 patterns and I'll be able to change them out as I see fit :)  The bench is probably one of my favorite things ever!  There's smaller storage directly under the bench, not much going on there right now.  I orginally wasn't going to do any bins, but I decided I needed them.  I got these at Lowes.  The storage units were a better buy at Home Depot, the bins were a better buy at Lowes.  Don't be afraid to shop around :)  The bin on the left is my scrapbook weekend bin.  When I come across a project or something I want to do at scrapbook weekend I'll toss it in that bin, then when it's time to pack I can just pull out that bin and I'm ready to go!  Fun right!!?!?!  The other two are storing gift bags, boxes, packaging, some retired Project Life stuff.  That kind of fun stuff.
Finally the other corner of the room.  I have the other 3x3 unit and I stacked the 2x3 unit on top.  They stacked really well and they look really seamless together.  I love it!  On the left is my purple-ish bag that I take to all my classes, I box up my supplies and throw them in there.  It's really nice it's a rolling bag so even if my Big Shot is in there I can just pull it instead of carring it.  I use it at least once a month so it needs to be accessible.  Previously it was stored in the middle of the floor....usually.  I do have an IKEA rod and baskets hanging there, the stuff in those baskets are kind of for the kids. It's retired washi tape, some accessories from paper pumpkin kits and some ribbons they're allowed to play with and use for crafts.
Every cube is set aside for something.  I really love that since each cube is designated for one or two specific things I know where to look or where to go when I need something.  I may still go in and rearrange some of them if when I start working I see it's just not going to be functional for me.  That's one of the reasons I went with the cube storage, you can always go back and re-do what's not working in one cube without having to re-do everything.  Plus if I can see it and it's out in the open I'm *hopefully* more likely to use it. 
One of the things I needed new storage for was my re-inkers.  They were previously in a box but I love them stored in the wood mount cases.  You can fit 10 re-inkers, perfect for each color group!  I will have to get one more wood mount case for my extra inks (versa marks, memento, staz on, etc).  This will be really easy to use though and easy to tell if I neeed more!
That is pretty much my craft room, I didn't go into too much detail about the last set of cubes.  If you have questions or want to see anything a little closer up let me know in the comments and I'll work on another post.  That's my new room, I'm really excited to work in it.  I love the final result!  I'm so glad I finally got it done!!!  I should be back tomorrow with some more stamped projects, made fresh in my brand new room!!!!
 
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Before.....


I mentioned on Facebook on Sunday that my room was about to undergo a big redo.  This room has worked for me for a long time, I've never had 'my own' furniture for my room.  I always end up with the 'left over' and hand me downs.  There's nothing wrong with that and for a long time it worked great.  But I think I've just out grown all it and it's just not functional for me anymore.  Right now I'm in the process of moving this furniture out, my new furniture will be in my house on Friday and I can 'move back in'.  I'm not getting a new desk or filing cabinet.  Those are both still working well, and I'm happy with them.  They'll need to be updated sometime, but for now they work well.  Here's the before pictures.  You'll notice I've blocked a few things out.  I'm working on a couple things that I just can't show you yet.  You'll see them soon.
This actually doesn't look so bad, but you'll see that without the organization and extra storage space, lots of stuff gets stored on the floor, in piles or boxes.  Really not great or ideal!  Oh look, more stuff you can't see ;)
This corner will undergo the biggest change.  I'm really excited to play in my new craft room.  I'm hoping it will be all done by this weekend.  I have everything out, so once the new furniture gets here, I just have to put it all in place.  Until it's done I won't have any posts, I'm hoping it will just be a day or two. I'll make sure to update if it will be longer.  I'll have big post on the during and after too.  Thanks for understanding, I'm so exctied to get a new space that will function better for me!!!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Stacked Birds


I love the greeting from the Sprinkles of life set that says "hope your day stacks up to be one good thing after another." But who says you have to use ice cream or cup cakes for that greeting, why can't you do a tower of birds!?!?  There is absolutely no reason why not so I did!  Isn't it cute!!  I used the little bird from the Made With Love set.  This set is designed to be a baby set but I love all the little animals in it.  I proabably won't use it for a baby set much :)
The birds were stamped and colored in with the 2015-2017 In Color Markers.  I used the white gel pen to add little dots on their tummies.  They're just so cute stacked up :)  I used one of the white note cards for this one.  This card is super quick and easy to put together!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Stamp Camp Cards Part 2


Here are the other 3 cards from Stamp Camp on Saturday.  These cards are all Amber's I mentioned yesterday that we both use the same 3 sets for our cards.  You can see my cards here.  Amber I both did candles and washi tape for our Build a Birthday Cards, still the cards are very different!
For Amber's Sprinkles Of Life she used the stamp set for an ice cream cone.  So cute!  I didn't get that new Bohemian Embossing folder, but isn't it cute!  I love it!!!!
Finally here's her card for the Best Thoughts set.  I love that she included the flower in her card.  I didn't in mine.  I love the lace trim! 
I didn't take a lot of pictures at stamp camp.  We start to get so busy and pictures just fall to the bottom of my list :)  Here's our sale right before we started.  This is 5 (I think) 6 foot tables end to end.  This is ONLY mine and Amber's retired stamp sets and accessories.  Hard to believe that just the two of us can accumulate soooooooooo much :)  We probabaly sold about half of what's there :)
After the retired sale we open the doors to stamp camp!  This year we completely sold out!  All seats were taken!  We have 6 tables set up (1 per card).  People rotate tables to stamp all their cards.  We also have a couple tables in the back for placing orders.  There's tables down the middle for our Big Shots and embossing.
All of my classes and stamp camps are held at my church.  I'm fortunate to be able to use this space for my classes.  It's big and open with plenty of space for stamping and our sale.
This class is always so much fun, I hope everyone that attended had a good time!  We're looking forward to next year!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Monday, June 22, 2015

Stamp Camp Cards Part 1


Over the weekend my upline, Amber, and I had our Annual New Catalog Stamp.  I don't even know how long we've been doing this.  We each design 3 cards then our customers come and and they get to make 6 cards total.  In addition they also get to shop our HUGE retired stamp set sale and they leave with their own copy of the catalog!  It's a great way for Amber and I to clear our all our retired stuff :)  Here's the 3 cards I designed.  We always try to use the same 3 stamp sets so that our customers can see the versitility each set.  We never know what the others cards are going to look like until we set up the class.  Our first set is the Sprinkles of Life set.  I adore this set!  There's sooooooo many different ways to use this set and the new Tree Punch that coordinates with it-SCORE!!!!
The next set we went with is the Build a Birthday set.  I love that you can use these for candles or cake layers.  At stamp camp we also try to incorporate all the new In Colors into our cards.  The first card I used Mint Macaron, this one uses 3 new In Colors: Tip Top Taupe, Cucmber Crush and Delightful Dijon.  That means my last card must have some Watermelon Wonder in it...... 
The final set we choose to use is one of the hostess sets, Best Thoughts. I love the greetings in this set and I really wanted to use some of the new Dotted Lace Trim in one of the cards so I pulled it out for this card.  I love all the layered banners and lace and doilies.  So pretty!!!  I'll have a full wrap up of stamp camp along with Amber's cards tomorrow!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Friday, June 19, 2015

Hogs and Kisses

 I bet you were starting to wonder if you'd ever see anything from the new catalog.....well I had the last week of May and the first 2 1/2 weeks of June prescheduled.  I knew with our trip and all the 'getting back to reality' after a trip that blogging just wasn't going to happen.  I haven't really had a chance to stamp until earlier this week.  This is the first card I made with my first order.  The new Barnyard Babies stamp set is super cute and full of fun puns!!!!  It's sooooo me! 

I had to do some tricky work with this set to get the two piggy's to be nose to nose, more on that in a minute.  They're simply colored with our Stampin' Write markers, and I added a few Crumb Cake dots to their backs just for some added texture.  The grass is also just drawn in with the makers.  Colors used are Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz and Cucumber Crush.  The heart has a nice coat of Crystal Effects on it for some added shine.
To get my piggy's nose to nose I used a window sheet.  Work quickly, I was stamping with Staz On because I didn't want my black to bleed into the Pink Marker, but if you're using another kind of ink you won't have to work nearly as quickly.  The Staz On will dry on the window sheet, water based inks won't.  It's easy to do.  I stamped one pig on the window sheet then quickly flipped it over and pressed firmly so that it transfered from the window sheet onto the cardstock.
You won't get a perfect impression but you can fix that later.  After the image was colored I went over it with a Project Life pen (these pens are awesome ya'll).  My final card has nice crisp black outlines.  There's always a way :)  There you have it, reverse stamping, I'll probably make all my animals kiss now ;) 
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Disney World Castle


A couple weeks ago the family and I were on vacation at Disney World. We had a great time and Dan's birthday was on the last day we were there. I made these cards right before we left and stuffed it in my luggage. I made two because, well, why not? I was already making one. Dan is so very anti glitter and as much as I wanted to give him the all glitter version I didn't....
These cards took me a looooooonnnnnnnnngggggg time. The castle was sketched out and drawn then cut with an exacto knife. The real accomplishment in that is that I didn't cut myself. I washi taped two pieces of white cardstock together before I started sketching and cutting. Really I just wanted a back up one in case the first one failed. Luckly the both worked out. Here's the glitter version....isn't it beautiful!!!!!! I adore this one!!! I just embossed a piece of Pacific Point in Iridecent Ice Embossing Powder to get the super sparkle!
This is the one I gave to Dan. I embossed a really thick clear embossing powder (non Stampin' Up! though many many many years ago SU used to sell a similar product called Glossy Glaze). It's super thick, the embossing powder crystals itself are really large, but you get this awesome effect with this powder. I embossed 3 layers of it. Then when it's cool you just bend the cardstock and it cracks the embossing powder, it's a very cool effect. You can probably get a similar look with the clear embossing powder but you'd have to do lots of layers of it. The final cards are pretty big, they're about 5.5x6. I didn't plan them to be that big but after all the layers and flags it just ended up that way, so I made a custom envelope with the envelope punch board.
Because the castle was a little fragile, I didn't want any part of it not sticking down. I used an excessive amount of dimensionals on each card......actually this is pretty much what most of my cards look like ;) not really........yes.......But literally every inch was stuck down. The great thing about these cards is that since I used the negative image, I still have 2 cut out castles to use on another project. NO WAY would I throw those away! I may just keep them as a stencil in case I need to make this card again :) I love these cards so much!!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Graduation Gift Card


Dan has a couple cousins (twins) who are graduating high school this year.  I needed some gift card holders fast!  I have a couple card kits from the last catalog that I save for moments just like this (and for when the kids need a quick card).  I pulled out the gift card holder card from the Hooray It's Your Day kit.  This one is no longer available but the new card kits in the new catalog are just amazing!  Can't wait to get those!  Seriously these kits are great for quick cards, or for kids!  I kept it really simple.  The front of the card is already embossed in clear embossing powder so I have a fun texture already there!  I created the quick tag, the numbers are from the kit-SCORE!  Just a couple minutes it was done!
Aside from the crooked greeting(....seriously it's a clear stamp, how did I get it so crooked!?!) the inside is really cute and again this card holder was already made like this, just fold and adhere.  Thank you kits!!!  Make sure you check out all the new kits in the 2015-2016 catalog.
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Thanks With Butterflies

If you're looking for some quick and beautiful thank you cards look no further! :)  I made a bunch of these for a gift (set of 6 in about 30 minutes).  The longest part was cutting the butterflies out with the Big Shot, but let's be honest even that only took a few minutes. I am using some retired DSP on these cards but you could use any DSP.
These cards are great for the DSP's with brighter patterns.  The layer of vellum over it really softens the look and makes the butterflies pop.  The vellum is glued down behind the butterflies and just a dot of Tombow (green glue) in each corner.  You can't even see it can you?!
You could add ribbon, rhinestones, pearls or any other accessory to jazz up the card more.  Of course you don't have to use a butterfly at all.  This would be really pretty with a flower or another stamped element.
I think the vellum is really what makes thsee cards stand out.  As much as I love vellum, I wish I could take credit for this idea.  I saw a card that used the vellum like this somewhere and now I can't find the original source :(  But it's a really fun and simple technique.  Go try it!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Watercolor Birthday


I had some watercolor paper sitting on my desk for a while so I decided to break it out and use it :)  I've seen this layout with watercolored cards all over Pintrest.  I thought I'd give it a go.  Usually with random watercolor, my cards don't come out well.  This one however I was pleasantly surprised.  I used Hello Honey and Watermelon Wonder for the watercolor parts.  There is a little Mint Macaron in there but when mixed with the other colors it just turned kind of brown and iky so I quickly soaked that up with some baby wipes, which left for some interesting color bleeds for the other two colors.  I did go in after the paper was dry with some Mint Macaron and Gorgeous Grunge and add a little 'splatter'.
I really like the way these two colors worked together.  I wanted to do something a little different for the greeting, I've been kind of on a banner kick lately, but instead of flagged ends on my banners I went another direction.  I also love that little bit of Mint Macaron lace peeking out the bottom.
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Friday, June 12, 2015

Birthday Balloon


I was so happy to see this set, Celebrate Today, had carried over from the Occasions Catalog to the Annual Catalog.  I love this balloon framelit!  For this card I paired it with the May Paper Pumpkin stamp set.  I used the balloon tail and the happy birthday stamp.  I colored just the birthday with my markers and masked off the rest of the greeting.
Behind the balloon I stamped lots of splatters from the Gorgeous Grunge set.  I love the softness of the Soft Sky ink paired with the boldness of the Blackberry Bliss.  This is probably one of my favorite color combos with Blackberry Bliss.  Of course no card is complete without a little glitter :) Just a small strip of Silver Glimmer Paper does the trick. 
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Amazing Box


When this box was posted on Sam's blog a few months ago I knew I had to make it.  It's such an amazing box, one you think someone spent hours making, it was actually really easy!  Again, thanks to the amazing mind of Sam's.  I know I could spend hours trying to figure this out and still come out empty handed.  Head over to Sam's blog and make this box.  Once you make one you'll make 100 of them!
It's such a cool box, anyone that you give this too would be completely amazed!  I'm still a little amazed!!!  It takes a 12x12 piece of paper, the exact measurements are 11 1/2 x 7 7/8.  Since our standard cardstock is 8 1/2 x 11, it falls a little short on the long side.  The only 12x12 cardstock I had was Real Red.  How can that be??!  Guess what I'll be ording soon ;) The red came out amazing though.  I did some simple stamping on the outside, in Real Red ink.  Nothing fancy or amazing, I really wanted to see how the box was going to come out.  To complete the box I added a ribbon on the lid and a tag.
The inside is pretty big.  You could fit lots of fun goodies in there :) Make sure you head over to Sam's blog for the video.
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!