Washi Wednesday – Blessed Easter

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Washi Tape Medallion TechniqueHere is another way to use your Washi Tape. Punch a circle or oval and pleat the Washi tape around the circle overlapping the edge of the tape on about 1/4″ around the circle. Cover this circle or oval as in my sample with another circle, oval, or some other punched shape that covers the inside edge of the pleated Washi tape. Then use it as desired on your card.

I used the Blessed Easter stamp which is in the Occasions seasonal catalog. This stamp is a single stamp and is not being carried over to the new catalog. So you need to order it soon if you don’t already have it. You might consider cutting the greeting off and mounting it separately so you can use the tulips for other occasions. If you don’t want to separate them, you can use markers on the rubber to color just the tulips.

In this card, the image is embossed with black embossing powder. To get just this image and not the greeting, I cut a mask from copy paper and put some 2-way glue on the back of it. I allowed the glue to dry so it was temporary and stuck the mask to my stamp. Then I inked the stamp with Versamark. The mask gets the versamark on it but not the greeting under the stamp. It is important to remember to take the mask off before stamping the image on your cardstock! LOL! Yes, I say this from experience. :o)

Since two of the items used in this card, the Gingham Garden Washi tape (129314) is being retired and the Blessed Easter stamp (133212) is not being carried over to the new catalog, be sure to order them by June 4 so you don’t miss out on making this great card.

SUPPLIES:
Stamps – Blessed Easter (wood only – 133212), Word Play (retired, sorry!)
Inks – Memento Black (will be in the new catalog), Versamark (102283), Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Cardstock – Whisper White, Shimmery White, Pistachio Pudding
Other – Blender Pens (102845), Gingham Garden Washi Tape (129314), Cherry Cobbler 1/2″ Seam Binding Ribbon (120992), Ovals Collection Framelits Dies (129381), Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109133), Heat Tool (129053)

Project Life and Stampin’ Up!

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Project Life in ActionAre you already a Project Life fan? Then you will be excited to know that Stampin’ Up! and Becky Higgins have joined forces to bring you Project Life scrapbooking with Stampin’ Up! exclusive art work and colors. Starting today, you can order the sneak preview supplies shown below and when the new 2014-2015 catalog is active on June 1st, you will be able to order the full range of choices Stampin’ Up! offers. Place your order through my online store or click on the links with the images.

Yes…there are even digital versions of the cards and stamp sets!
If you are like me and just don’t have the time or don’t get around to doing traditional scrapbooking, Project Life might be the perfect solution for you. It is a simple way to get your pictures into a scrapbook. The rectangular framelit is the perfect size to cut out your focal point of a photo so it fits into the pockets. There are pre-printed cards with cute sayings to put in some of the pockets and there are journaling cards so you can quickly write down the memories associated with the photos on the page. And….the cards come in a sturdy cute box for storage.
I ordered my Project Life supplies today. Now it is your turn to order your Project Life supplies and start scrapping PL style with me.

Washi Wednesday – Watercolor Wonder

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Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi TapeI received this wonderful Thank You card from a fellow demo, Mel Pigozzo. I love that it shows another way to use Washi Tape. The Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape (133000) really shows up it’s gold color well on the Pool Party card stock. Mel used one of the Squares Collection Framelits (130921) to make a window in the Very Vanilla rectangle. Gold Foil Sheet (132622) was punched with the Full Heart Punch (119883) and added as an accent. The greeting is from the Bitty Banners stamp set which has already sold out and was cut out with the Bitty Banners Framelits (129267). Finally, the Very Vanilla layer was wrapped with Gold Baker’s Twine (132975).

Thanks, Mel, for this great card!

Last Day for FREE Shipping!

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Free Shipping logoToday is the last day for FREE SHIPPING from Stampin’ Up! This amounts to a 10% savings right off the top. I urge you to use this offer to stock up on supplies. Also remember that the retirement lists are up and many items have already sold out. Check out the lists  below by clicking on the links. Then hurry over to my online store here to place your order while you can get free shipping and still get retiring items.

Retiring Product logoRetiring Lists

  • Retiring Stamps (Available April 21-June 4, 2014, or while supplies last)
  • Retiring Accessories (Available April 21-June 4, 2014, or while supplies last)

#WeLoveDS Day

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Digital card for #WeLoveDS DayToday, demonstrators across the country are spreading cheer and love on the wonderful people who work in the Demonstrator Services department of Stampin’ Up!. They are THE go-to people when demonstrators have questions, and problems with orders. They are the voices at the other end of the phone line who are always so cheerful and helpful. My thanks go out to them not just today but every day.

Supplies for this digital card:
MDS software digital download (130646), MDS software disc (130647), or 30-day Free Trial of MDS (130910)
Stamp Brush Sets – Gorgeous Grunge (137939) grunge 5 colored with Tempting Turquoise and Taken With Teal, Fantabulous You (129920), Sweet Details Alphabet and Numbers (125745) letters colored with Not Quite Navy
Embellishments – Today Starts Here Photobook Template (137120) Square Grid recolored with Baked Brown Sugar

Digital creating with MDS is perfect when you need a quick card and especially when you need to send it digitally so it arrives in time. To create this card traditionally with paper, ink, and stamps I would first have to clean off my stamping desk to have a flat surface on which to work. Yes, I know I should clean up after each project and then the desk would be clear for the next time but…creative minds are rarely tidy! Right?!

I encourage you to give digital scrapbooking and card making a try. MDS provides all the wonderful art and color Stampin’ Up! is well-know for and the program is easy to use. Click on one of the MDS links above to order your copy. I’m right here to help you get started and answer any questions you may have. I post digital projects to this blog often so take time to check out my various posts. There is a tab at the top of the page which links to all the digital projects to help sort them out.

Terrific Tuesday – Terrific Paw Parade download!

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Paw Parade KitWelcome to Terrific Tuesday. The elements of this scrapbook page come from one of today’s new MDS downloads, Paw Parade Kit (138037). The kit has stamps for many breeds of dogs but not dachshunds. :o( It is a darling kit though and I really needed it! Besides wonderful designer series papers, it has wonderful dog stamps. Check them out!

stamps from Paw Parade Kit

Here are the two downloads for today. Click on the links for more details and to order them.

Today we also get new Weekly Deals. Check them out, then click on the links to order. All the items this week except for the MDS download are on the retirement list and will sell out quickly, especially at this reduced price. Order them TODAY! Remember…we get FREE SHIPPING this week! Use the hostess code YQWQG7E4 if your order is less than $150.

Time to Shop!

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Retirement image

Go order now! The lists of retiring Stampin’ Up! products has been released and you need to order those stamps you have been planning to get and stock up on your favorite accessories before they are gone!

Retiring Lists

  • Retiring Stamps (Available April 21-June 4, 2014, or while supplies last)
  • Retiring Accessories (Available April 21-June 4, 2014, or while supplies last)
    • PDF
    • Excel file
    • 2013-14_US_Retiring_Accessories-by_Page
    • The best way to ensure you get the items you want before they are gone is to order online HERE.  It’s easy, secure and your items will be shipped DIRECTLY to you!  If you haven’t ordered online through Stampin’ Up! previously, just set up an account (short form, it’s easy!) then place your order.

    Retiring stamps and accessories are only available while supplies last so order ASAP. The lists of retiring products will be updated each business day by 4:00 PM (MT) with availability information.

Free Shipping logoTo sweeten the deal, Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders starting today and running through Friday (April 21-15). This is a 10% savings right off the top! If you prefer to have me order for you, call me so I can place your order while you are on the phone.

I am hosting an online workshop this week. The workshop will close Friday at noon. If your order this week is less than $150, please use this hostess code YQWQG7E4.

Happy Shopping!

 

 

Easter Blessings!

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Easter memeI took this photo of some of the beautiful tulips growing here in the Skagit Valley and wanted to share this Easter meme I created with MDS. I also wanted to share that, for me, Easter is much more than Easter Bunnies, new clothes, Easter Eggs, and big family dinners…all great things. I truly believe that because He lives, I can face tomorrow! Have a Happy and Blessed Easter everyone. :o)

How Will You Spend It?

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investment image

“Image courtesy of creativedoxfoto/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net”

Are you one of the thousands of taxpayers who is getting a refund? What are you planning on doing with that refund? Do you have a plan or will it just be put into the general funds and get spent bit by bit until it is gone?

I have a better suggestion! Why not invest a portion of the refund in yourself and start your own paper crafting business. For about $200 of that tax refund you can change your future. Here are some benefits of owning your own business when you join me and my team of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators:

  • My focus will be to provide you with the resources and training necessary to build a successful business.
  • Flexibility to work around family commitments since you decide how much you will pay yourself and how much time you will work your business.
  • Tax deductions by owning your own business
  • Wealth of expert training from me. The Stampin’ Up! demonstrator support team is another valuable resource.
  • Long-lasting relationships and friendships with customers and fellow demonstrators.
  • Recognition and ability to win awards for your efforts.
  • My unique, warm, and caring guidance and support.

Ready to invest in yourself? Contact me or click here for more information. I would love to have conversations with you about how I can help you achieve your goals through owning your own paper-crafting business.

 

 

A Birthday Card For Your Dog

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Dog birthday card using Storytime Digital KitToday is National Pet Owner’s Day. As an owner of two mini-dachshunds, I know how very much a part of the family our pets become. Now that our children are grown and on their own, our two pups have become our fur babies and are so spoiled! Their birthday is coming up in May and I decided to create this birthday card for them. This hybrid card was created with the dog frame from the Storytime Ensemble (127195) and created the greeting in a text frame. I printed it out on Whisper White card stock, trimmed it down to size, and mounted it on Baked Brown Sugar card stock. The heart is a dog biscuit I had on hand and glued to the card. This Storytime Ensemble is a darling digital download. Check it out! Just click on the image for more views and to order it.

Do you have pets in your home? Share who they are in a comment below!

Washi Wednesday – Retro Fresh

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Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi Tape Thank You cardWell I started this post when it was Wednesday but life got in the way so now it is Thursday. I really wanted to share this post with you so here goes.

I have another Washi tape card for you! I am fairly new to the Washi tape scene and didn’t know at first what to do with it other than to use it in place of scotch tape to slap photos into a Smash book. After a bit of research and browsing Pinterest and Google, I have learned there are an ever-growing amount of ways to use it. I shared in this previous post a way to use the tape to make a basket weave border on a card. This time I am sharing a Washi tape punched shape technique.

Apply strips of washi tape on a scrap piece of card stock that is a little larger than your punch. Then punch out your shape. I used a variety of sizes of scallop circle punches and the Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi Tape (133001). The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (wood – 128748, clear – 127802).

Repositionable washi tape comes in all kinds of widths, colors, and designs. Stampin’ Up! has the below selections for your enjoyment. Order one or two of the designs by clicking on the photos. Then share your creations by emailing a picture of your projects to me. I’ll share them on my blog.

Terrific Tuesday – Hello Spring

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Hello Spring stamp brush setHello Spring (138039) is one of the new digital downloads for MDS that has been released today, Terrific Tuesday. Don’t you just love this pansy? I changed the color of the stamp from Basic Black to Concord Crush and then used the Freeform brush to add a paint layer of Crushed Curry. I see this color combination often in pansies and it always catches my eye. I added a few Garden Green leaves from the Bright Blessings stamp brush set (127404). The grosgrain ribbon has been recolored with Concord Crush.

You know me…I like to have some texture to my backgrounds so I used the wrinkled pattern 4 of the Downtown Grunge Designer Series Paper (part of the Downtown Grunge Photobook Template – 126056). I recolored it with Wisteria Wonder. You can’t recolor designer series paper when it is added as the background nor when you fill a punch with it. To get the recoloring option, you have to add the designer series paper as a page layer. Don’t ask me why. It seems to me that you should be able to recolor it any way you add it but MDS doesn’t seem to work that way. Maybe in the future it will. Check out these great new downloads for MDS and then click on them to order the ones you want.

Remember that Tuesdays are terrific also because we get new Weekly Deals. Here are this week’s deals. Snap up these great deals by clicking on the links to order them.

MDS Monday – Fabulous Phrases

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The challenge for today’s MDS Monday is to choose a designer series paper for your card and then color all the rest of the elements on the card using the color picker to choose colors in the designer series paper. We are also to use a diagonal feature. Here is the sketch:

MDSM62 SketchAnd here is my version:

Diagonal digital birthday card using the Fabulous Phrases downloadI love the font in the Fabulous Phrases stamp brush set! I guess so much that I used the word ‘happy’ over and over again…LOL! I really, really want the recipient of this card to have the happiest birthday ever! :o)

Using the color picker tool to color elements on my projects is a technique I use all the time. I particularly like to use it to pick up colors in a photo I am using but also use it often as in this case to coordinate the colors with the designer series paper. I had originally created this card with the gold sequins that are the download. When I read the challenge again and saw that we were to use the color picker for all the elements of the card, I went back and re-colored the sequins with one of the colors in the orange butterflies. I was really surprised how beautiful the sequins turned out. They almost look like bronze or copper. Then I had to go back and change to color of the bow to go with the sequins. The Tempting Turquoise I had used for ‘birthday’ was not from the color picker either so I picked it’s color from the re-colored sequins. After all the adjustments I made from the original card, I have a card that far exceeds what I had originally planned!

Does that ever happen to you? Do you have to make adjustments like adding a layer, an embellishment, or a label to cover a goof? Or do you have to change your colors out because you don’t have enough ribbon to match what you had planned and then the end result is so much better than your original idea? Happens to me all the time! Sometimes the project takes on a life of itself.

Below are the supplies I used in this project. Click on the links to order them for yourself. Remember that most of the elements have been recolored.

Terrific Tuesday – Throughout the Years

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Throughout the Years Photobook Template pg 2 Throughout the Years Photobook Template pg 3

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Terrific Tuesday with new MDS digital downloads and new Weekly Deals for us. Before I share them with you, I want to share this first 2-page spread of Ron and my Throughout the Years 8″ x 8″ book I am creating for our 50th wedding anniversary celebration the end of July. Two weeks ago I shared a card with you that I had created using this photobook template. You can see the card here and here are pages 2 and 3 of the photobook. The only changes I made to the designer pages were to change the colors to my wedding colors and to add journaling and a couple extra photos to pg 3.

Using MDS to create scrapbooks is so much faster and cleaner than traditional scrapbooking! I can change colors without wasting any paper, change the size of photos without destroying any photos, and….there is no clean-up afterwards! Triple score!!! Give it a try for yourself. I am here to help you learn and discover the pleasure of digital scrapbooking. Click on one of the links for MDS below to get started!

Supplies:
MDS software digital download (130646), MDS software disc (130647), or 30-day Free Trial of MDS (130910), Throughout the Years Photobook Template (137902)

Now on to the new Weekly Deals. Here they are. Click on the links to order them.

MDS Monday Sketch 61- Using Rounded Photo Corners

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Using rounded corners on photoDon’t those two smiling faces warm your heart? They are two of our great-granddaughters and I had to use their photos on this scrapbook page for the MDSM61 sketch challenge. We were to round the corners of the photos in this challenge. Did you know that you can round them with just a click of your mouse? Right click on the photo which brings up a menu with several options, one of which is rounded corners. When you click on that, another screen comes up allowing you to deselect any corners you don’t want rounded. How cool is that?! Then click OK and you are done!

I wanted the title to resemble the colors in the dandelions so I used the color picker to choose one of the colors in the dandelions for the text. Then I changed the drop shadow to Old Olive and increased the opacity to 100% to get the soft green shadow.

I didn’t wander too far from the sketch. Well….maybe!

MDS Monday Sketch 61 - using rounded corners Dandelions are one of the first flowers??? to bloom in SE Alaska and are a sure sign that spring has arrived. What flowers signify spring to you? Create a scrapbook page or card with your answer and I’ll share it here on my blog.

Supplies:
MDS software digital download (130646), MDS software disc (130647), or 30-day Free Trial of MDS (130910)Background
Card Stock/Soft Sky
Punches
Basics/1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Be Yourself May Kit (133426) – Be Yourself Designer Series Paper – paper 4
Basics/1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Photo of dandelions