Happy Birthday Blog Candy And Cards Too!

On Friday, I shared that this is my birthday weekend… LOL, we don’t just have birthdays at my house… my DS, DD, and DH all believe they should have birthday weeks (and even birthday months)… but I’m perfectly happy with just a few days of acknowledgement and extra kindness.

In honor of my birthday weekend, I’ve brought you a brand new technique (did you see yesterday’s Faux Foil Technique?)… AND (drumroll….) BLOG CANDY! The technique of course, like all my Super Saturday Techniques is free…. and so is the BLOG CANDY… and… YOU have 3 ways to win:

1. Leave a comment on any of my posts from July 29th through August1st telling me what you love about Super Saturdays – you’ll be entered once into the drawing for each day you comment.
2. Earn an extra drawing daily if you also wish me Happy Birthday in your comment!
3. Make a purchase from my Online Stampin’ Up! Store HERE, and you’ll be entered in the drawing with TEN chances to win.
4. Book an in-home workshop with me for the month of AUGUST, and you’ll receive TEN entries!

TWO BLOG CANDY Prizes will be awarded next Sunday to TWO winners!  

• ONE happy winner will win a FREE PASS to the next session of Inspiration 4 U!!
• ONE happy winner will win TWO Clear Mount Stamp Sets:  Sunny7 Fun and Silhouette Sentiments!

Good Luck to all of my wonderful readers, followers and stamping friends!

And now… for today’s card shares!  I’ll keep the chit chat at a minimum today as I’ve already filled up a page about BLOG CANDY!! 

Today’s cards are from a recent card making class, students made all six cards which featured Well Worn Designer Series Papers (DSP), Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Papers and even Red Glimmer Paper too!  Several but not all of these cards would be great for that special guy in your life… nice, CAS, Masculine Cards! 

Supplies:

• Lovely As A Tree and Tiny Tags Stamp Sets
• Early Espresso and Crumb Cake Classic Inks
• Well Worn Designer Series Paper
• Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, and Basic Gray Card Stock
• Big Shot Machine and Stripes Textured Embossing Folder
• Hemp Twine, Tag Punch, Neutrals Brads, Stampin’ Sponge, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Multipurpose Adhesive, Mini Glue Dots

Supplies:

• Totally Tool Stamp Set
• Soft Suede Classic Ink
• Well Worn Designer Series Paper
• Naturals Ivory, Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso Card Stock
• Big Shot Machine, Timeless Trim XL Die, Herringbone and Stripes Textured Embossing Folders
• Cajun Craze Stampin’ Write Marker, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Mini Brads, Silver Brads

Supplies:

• A Word For You Stamp Set
• Night Of Navy Classic Ink
• Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Naturals Ivory, Night Of Navy, River Rock, and Cajun Craze Card Stock
• Big Shot Machine, Timeless Trim Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Embossing Folder
• Paper Daisies, Regals Buttons, Hemp Twine, 1/2” wide paint brush, Champagne Shimmer Paint, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Supplies:

• Happiest Birthday Wishes Stamp Set
• Basic Black Classic Ink
• Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Crumb Cake, Basic Black and Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Scallop Circle, 1-3/8” Circle, and 1” Circle Punches
• Basic Black 5/8” Satin Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Supplies:

• Easy Events Stamp Set
• Soft Suede Classic Ink
• Well Worn Designer Series Paper
• Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, and Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Big Shot Machine and Herringbone Textured Embossing Folder
• Crumb Cake and Riding Hood Red Stampin’ Write Markers, Basic Jewel Rhinestones, and Not Quite Navy 3/8” Taffeta Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots

Supplies:

• Delightful Dozen Stamp Set
• Soft Suede Classic Ink
• Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Very Vanilla and Soft Suede Card Stock
• Big Shot Machine, and Vintage Wallpaper Textured Embossing Folder
• Itty Bitty Punch Pack and Lace Ribbon Border Punch
• Basic Jewel Pearls, Very Vanilla 5/8” Satin Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots

LOL… these cards were so easy to make, class attendees were done in an hour and a half!  Scroll down for additional views and close-ups!

Stripes Textured Embossing Folder… used vertically and horizontally on the Crumb Cake Card Stock layer.

Mini Brads made great rivets for this handyman’s saw!

Paper Daisies and Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper were painted with Champagne Shimmer Paint.  Be sure to let the paper daisies dry completely before attaching button or layering with Stampin’ Dimensionals!

A simple ribbon knot is attached to the layered and popped medallion using mini glue dots.

Everyone loved the stitching lines on the snail’s shell, and the lovely rhinestone ‘bling’ too!

So clean and simple… itty bitty punch pack, vintage wallpaper textured embossing folder, and basic pearl jewels were topped with a simple knotted bow too!

See you tomorrow with more cards from last week’s Watercolor Wonder Crayon Class… and have a great weekend! I look forward to reading your comments!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: Well Worn,Mocha Morning,Vintage Wallpaper,Lace border punch,easy events,blog candy,lovely as a tree,masculine cards,cards for guys,itty bitty punch pack

Tutorial: CAS Faux Foil using NO Ink!

Friday morning rolled around quickly this week… so much going on!  Although I had been playing with a new card fold, I simply haven’t had enough quality time to work out the dynamics!  Retiring to my stamp room, my mind befuddled, I began playing around with various older techniques… and then the old light bulb came on and the Faux Foil Technique practically developed on it’s own.

A result of creative play, I wondered if this had ever been published before, so I took a moment to use the Google Search to see if I could find any such technique… and although there are faux foil processes, faux foil stickers and faux foil metal… there is no faux foil technique like this one… YEAH!!

The Faux Foil (No Ink) Technique just lends itself to Clean and Simple Cards (CAS)…. so I think you’re really going to like today’s Super Saturday Tutorial!

Stamps and Supplies the Faux Foil Super Saturday Tutorial:

Stamps: 

• Four the Holidays #116921 wood-mount 4pcs $13.95
• Serene Snowflakes #115438 wood-mount 4pcs $20.95

Card Stock: 

• Whisper White  #100730, 40 sheets $8.50

Accessories: 

• Stampin’ Glitter #114286 5 colors $13.95
• Multipurpose Liquid Glue #110755 $3.95

From Your Home:

• Dryer Sheet, Toothpick, Paper Towel, recycled (flat) plastic container, recycled clear plastic baggie, toothbrush or nail brush, a little dish soap and water

Optional:

• Heat Tool, Adhesive Eraser, Powder Pal Embossing Trays

Step By Step Faux Foil Technique:

1. Cut and fold Whisper White Card Stock to desired card size.  For this tutorial, I used a standard A2 card measuring 4.25” x 11”, scored at 5.5”
2. Place approximately 1/8” of warm, soapy water into your clean and empty recycled container.
3. Squeeze out a thin layer of Multipurpose Adhesive onto your recycled plastic bag… it doesn’t have to be a totally solid puddle of glue, but you do want it to be fairly thin.
4. Now… you’ll want to work quickly…. and, I know this is the scary part, LOL… stick your stamp into the glue!  Move it around as you apply the glue, and turn it over to check that there is enough glue on the stamp.
5. Again, working quickly, place the stamp directly onto your whisper white card stock, picking it back up quickly so that the stamp is not glued to the card stock.  Now, re-apply the glue and stamp as many times as you would like.  IMPORTANT:  DO NOT LET THE GLUE DRY ON YOUR STAMP (not the end of the world, you just have to work a little harder to clean it off!)
6. Repeat process using alternative stamp images and greeting.  As you finish using each stamp, place in your bowl of warm, soapy water… you want to keep the rubber moist.
7. The image below is intentionally darkened so that you can almost see the glue stamped images.  TIP:  If you want to be able to see your images better as you stamp, go ahead and ink up your stamp first with a light color such as Sahara Sand or Pretty In Pink… then when you apply the glue and stamp, you’ll see the images better.
8. Take your stamps, recycled plastic container with soapy water, and toothbrush or nail brush to the sink and clean them well.  I use a little dish soap and a nail brush to thoroughly clean all crevices, rinse and then pat dry with a paper towel.
9. Now, returning to your stamped project… sprinkle your card stock with Silver Super Nova Fine Stampin’ Glitter, tap off excess, and set aside to dry completely.*
10. Once dry, your card will be very sparkly… and a bit dimensional… we’re not done yet!
11. If there are areas you feel you need to ‘touch up’… use a household toothpick dipped into Multipurpose Adhesive to draw in missing image lines and/or dots, etcetera.  You can also use an adhesive eraser to remove any over-stamping of the images, and no-one will ever know!
12. Let any touch up work dry completely… then burnish the entire surface with a wadded up paper towel.  (Scary, huh?)  You’ll be surprised by how much glitter comes off the card stock…
13. LOL… that was a pretty scary step for me, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen… but I did recover quite a bit of glitter which could be put right back into the container!
14. Now… you’ll probably notice some lagging glitter… so take your unused dryer sheet, and buff the surface of the card stock to remove the static.  Here’s a single snowflake image I stamped onto Very Vanilla Card Stock so that you could see what the faux foil looks like after being buffed and polished with a dryer sheet.

That’s it… clean and simple Faux Foil… and my newest Super Saturday Tutorial!  Scroll down to view tips, and more photos/samples!

*TIPS:

• If you want to speed up the process, use a heat tool to dry the Multipurpose Glue stamped images.  Glitter can still be applied after the glue is dry as it remains tacky.
• Mass production?  Stamp all your cards, let dry over night, then apply glitter, burnish, and then use the dryer sheet.
• If the idea of applying glue to your red rubber thoroughly scares the living daylights out of you, try using a retired, older stamp first… or maybe one that you have fallen out of love with!
• After completing my card… my brain was still whirling… I did the same faux foil technique on Basic Black Card Stock using different images, and found that more delicately drawn images work best.
• Stampin’ Up! Stamps are perfect for this process because they are deeply etched.  I think you’ll find that inexpensive or shallow etched stamps will not perform as well.
• Use this same technique with Dazzling Diamonds!  Gosh, I wish we still sold Hologram Glitter!

Photo of burnished card stock, before using dryer sheet:

And after using the dryer sheet:

Totally burnished, any over stamping removed with adhesive eraser, smooth and faux foil images!

Hmm… Dazzling Diamonds with Lovely as a Tree!

Very wintery and sparkly!

Well it’s my birthday weekend… and I was going to post blog candy today… but this post is already a bit too long.  So, check back tomorrow and find out how you can win my birthday weekend BLOG CANDY!

I look forward to reading your comments, and remember you can order all the supplies for today’s Faux Foil Technique at my Online Stampin’ Up! Store HERE!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: Techniques,Tips,Super Saturday,Faux Foil,tutorial,new products,google,Christmas Cards,Christmas and Holiday,clean and simple,CAS,Blog Candy

Well Worn Inspired Natures Pace

Do you remember the pretty Christmas Card I shared on Monday?  It was one of six we made in last week’s Christmas Card Class, and a CASE (Copy and Share Everything) of another card I had made.  You can view the original card HERE.

Today’s card share just happens to be the card I CASE’D.  Using new products from the 2011-12 Idea Book and Catalog, it features the Natures Pace Stamp Set, and Well Worn Designer Series Paper (DSP).  I’ve really been having a lot of fun with Well Worn DSP!!  The versatile patterns and color palette at first seem heavily masculine, but once you start making a few projects with the DSP, it just leads you in all directions!

The focal image was stamped onto Neutrals Ivory Card Stock, and colored with markers (marker colors:  Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and Regal Rose). 

Two scallop oval punches were cut from Soft Suede card stock, and then trimmed to within 1/8” of the scallop edge. After clipping into the curves with my paper snips, the scallop trim became very flexible, and was easily attached to the wide oval punched/stamped image using tiny dots of multipurpose adhesive

LOL.. you can see where I attached the two scallop trims if you look closely at the photo above!  And, here I’ve also used another new product:  mini brads!!  The mini brads are placed using a mat pack and paper piercing tool, piercing the holes with only one space between each brad hole.

This is another new product:  Artichoke Denim Ribbon.  The new Denim ribbon comes in Blue Jean Color and Artichoke… it’s very similar to 3/8” taffeta in appearance, although a bit sturdier.

Of course, there’s lots of texture going on within this card… Both Square Lattice and Finial Press Textured Embossing Folders were used on the Naturals Ivory Card Stock, and then sponged with Crumb Cake Classic Ink using a Stampin’ Sponge.

Yesterday I hosted my first ever live web training featuring ribbon tips, techniques and more… a little rough go at first with a few technical glitches, it finally came together with the help of my good friend Tee from Green Isles Crafts!  (Thanks to my very good friend, Tee!)  I’ll be doing three more next month, hope you’ll join me live too!  Join the VC Rocks Yahoo Group and don’t miss a single webinar!

There’s a lot going on this weekend, our DD just found out she will be coming home after spending two (more) weeks in NYC…and of course tomorrow is my regular free tutorial for Super Saturday!  Sunday and Monday I will also be sharing cards made in last week’s Designer Series Paper/Layered Card Class.

Be sure to check out upcoming classes and events at the top of the page, and register early!

AND… it’s my Birthday Weekend!!   So… stay tuned, I’ll probably have a really cool surprise to share this weekend too!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: vc_rocks,new products,designer series paper,catalog,card class,classes and events,webinar,classroom,well worn,natures pace

Kindness Matters 5 Minute Card CS42S

Yikes, I’ve been burning the candle from both ends of late!!  This has, indeed been a very busy week!  Late Tuesday afternoon, realizing I hadn’t made a card for the Creative-Sketches Design Team, I quickly made today’s card!  Featuring new products from the 2011-12 Idea book and catalog, this one came together in 5 Minutes (maybe even less!)

LOL, I’ve been wanting to use the new stamp set Kindness Matters… and today’s sketch challenge was the perfect opportunity to put it to use!

New Products:  Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper and Kindness Matters Stamp Set.

The butterflies from Kindness Matters were stamped in Not Quite Navy Classic Ink, and then punched with the 1” and 1-1/4” circle punches.  The center butterfly is popped up with a Stampin’ Dimensional, and all three are trimmed in Not Quite Navy Classic Ink too.

At first the card still looked a little, well… blah… so I added Basic Jewel Pearls to the focal image panel.  Initially, I toyed with putting them on the Beyond The Garden Designer Series Paper, but they became lost in the small printed and somewhat busy floral background.

A strip of Double Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch (DSRB) was layered onto a 1/2” strip of Not Quite Navy Card Stock… but it still looked a little dull, uninteresting and like it was missing something, so I added a layer of narrow grosgrain directly over the DSRB and a “bunny ear” bow which was attached with mini glue dots.

Here is today’s sketch for the Creative Sketches Design Team, why not play along with us… create a project, card, or even an ATC using this sketch and then upload the URL of your creation to the Design Team Blog!

See you tomorrow with more cards from this week’s classes!  Everyone has had such a good time…. be sure to check out my upcoming Classes and Events, and register early to reserve your spot!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: New Products,Kindness matters,5 minute cards,CAS,quick cards,easy cards,design team,challenge,idea book and catalog,classses and events,clean and simple,designer series paper

Lean on Me and New Embossing Folders!

Two new embossing folders are featured on today’s card, and they both work really well together too!  The Herringbone Textured Embossing Folder, and Stripes are paired along with another new product / stamp set: Lean on Me!  

AND… it’s Wednesday, so it’s also time for the Diva Coffee Break Designs Team Challenge!  Today’s challenge requires that we use Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, and Cherry Cobbler in our Cards and/or projects.  LOL, I tried to stamp flowers, but just couldn’t have yucky brown leaves and stems (even tried the vintage route but wasn’t satisfied with the results). 

Lean on Me was the perfect solution to my dilemma!  The little girl in a raincoat, carrying an umbrella fit quite well into today’s Color Challenge scheme!

After adding Very Vanilla Card Stock too…. cherry cobbler brads and button, along with the new textured embossing folders, my challenge card finally came together!

Love that little girl image… in her yellow raincoat and singing/dancing in the rain… la, la, la, la….

The stripes embossing folder was a little difficult to photograph… but you can see it here along with the three cherry cobbler brads.

I actually made seven new cards yesterday morning, and had an opportunity to play around with this embossing folder quite a bit… my head is spinning with potential and ideas… just wait!

And finished off the loser corner with a Cherry Cobbler button tied with Hemp Twine, and attached with mini glue dots.  You can see a bit of the herringbone pattern in this photo too.

Hope you’ll come play along with the Divas this week… just link back to our post at Diva Coffee Break Designs, and then leave a comment with your blog address.  (We seem to be having technical difficulties with the linky tool…)

See you tomorrow with a new challenge from the Creative-Sketches Design Team! 

Remember you can shop for new catalog products online in my Stampin’ Up! Store…. and even take advantage of clearance rack items at my Clearance Rack Store too!  With the convenience of having your merchandise delivered right to you door, think about how much gas you can save!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: new products,clearance rack,lean on me,embossing,herringbone,stripes,divas,color challenge

UDI 46 The Turquoise Thistle Continues…

Welcome to another Utah Divas International Color Challenge!  This week, for challenge number 46, the design team had to use the colors Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, So Saffron, and Whisper White on our projects so, once again, I have a tempting turquoise thistle from the Natures Pace Stamp Set!

This card just evolved…. another one of those “ok, step away from the card, Mom” cards, as my DD would say!

The So Saffron Card Stock layers were embossed using the big shot machine along with Perfect Polka Dots and Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folders.

The focal image was colored with Stampin’ Write markers, then stamped DTP and punched out, and trimmed with Tempting Turquoise ink.

Using rotated squares of Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise card stock, a medallion setting was created for the focal image… basic pearl jewels were added along the edges of the Tempting Turquoise card stock… I think it’s a bit much, what do you think?

Do you have the itty bitty punch pack yet?  The small floral punch can really add a little fun to an ordinary brad!

LOL… adding the Tempting Turquoise Scallop Circle punch to the sentiments in upper and lower corners made them look a bit like flowers!

The sentiments are from the fabulous Petite Pairs stamp set… ordinarily I would put one on the inside.. but the corner really needed some kind of attention too!

Remember this ribbon fold technique?  It was featured in one of my Super Saturday Free Tutorials… I had lined up the ribbon folds with the designer series paper pattern, but the embossed Perfect Polka Dots surface worked well as a guide too!

You can view the ribbon fold technique HERE.

And here is the inspiration photo for today’s Utah Divas International Color Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by, I truly enjoy your comments and feedback!

Tomorrow I’ll have a new Diva Coffee Break Designs Team Challenge… hope to see you back here again!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: udi46,color challenges,natures pace,tempting turquoise,old olive,embossing folders,square lattice,perfect polka dots

A Multi-Layered Vintage Christmas Card

The last of the multi-layered Christmas Card which were part of last Saturday’s Christmas Card Stamp Class has a vintage theme!

For this card, we used the lovely wreath image from the Welcome Christmas stamp set, along with the Petite Pairs stamp set.  Petite Pairs has quickly become everyone’ favorite!  With all-occasion greetings for both inside and outside of the cards, it was a must have on my first order from the 2011-12 Idea Book and Catalog!

LOVE the texture, don’t you? Both square lattice and finial press textured embossing folder were used on Naturals Ivory card stock.  We used a sponge dauber and Crumb Cake Classic ink to lightly color the embossed images so they really pop!

New Product alert:  Mini Brads!  Using a mat pack and paper piercing tool, we only skipped one hole of piercing for placement of the tiny brads.  Everyone was amazed at the long legs on the brads… these guys are tall but not small!

After stamping Naturals Ivory Card Stock with the wreath image from the Welcome Christmas Stamp Set and Always Artichoke Classic Ink, we punched it out with a 2-1/2” circle punch. 

“Merry Christmas” from Petite Pairs was then stamped onto the center of the wreath with Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, and then edges were colored to match.  The Cherry Cobbler Ink is quite intense, so we chose to use a Real Red marker to color in the berries. The wreath was then topped off with a double loop bow, with proper tails which was made with Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.

Well Worn Designer Series Paper, distressed and masculine in patterns worked well as a colorful accent on the card.  An open Scallop Border punch trim was also added beneath the Always Artichoke layer.

To balance the card, three more tiny mini brads were added to the lower right corner of the card too.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Vintage Christmas Card, tomorrow I’ll have a NEW Color Challenge from the Utah Divas International Design Team… hope you’ll check it out and play along with the team!

Hugs,

Sharon

Technorati Tags: vintage,christmas cards,classes and events,brads,idea book and catalog,Divas,embossing folders,big shot,sponge dauber,texture,card class