Happy Friday everyone!!! Yesterday was my 2 Year Anniversary with this blog!!! I can’t believe it’s been that long! Here is my very first post and last year’s anniversary post!! I remember starting out and being nervous and now it’s like second nature to me. I feel like you all are my stamping friend whether you are stopping by for the first time or the 730th time!!! Since day one, I have added in Technique Tuesday, started doing video tutorials, and so much more! Thank you all for stopping by to see me and I look forward to all the years to come. To celebrate, leave me a comment below answering any or all of the following questions:
~What is your favorite post?
~What would you like to see more of – tutorials, specific stamp set or product, give-aways, about me?
What is your favorite item in the New Stampin’ Up! Catalog? 😉
Of course we can’t start the weekend without first sharing the Weekly Deals!!!!
I love that there are so many different items and I’m super pumped about the Striped Cotton Ribbon because I haven’t tried it out yet. Now I will get getting lots on sale to try it out!!! I love the Paper Packs being on the Weekly Deals as well! Bonus!!! Get them before they are gone!!!
Also, I have to give a big SHOUT OUT to one of my fabulous blog followers – Julia D. She is super fabulous and has sent all of these cards for me to send to Ronald McDonald House. Our little Tab House is almost full so I will be sending these as well as all of the others real soon! Thank you so much Julia and all of the others who have donated cards. I great appreciate it!!!
Have you tried Paper Pumpkin??? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? It is a super fabulous kit that comes right to your door with everything in to create the perfect craft. Sometimes it is cards, sometimes treat bags/favors, and sometimes home decor…..it’s a surprise every month!!! You can check out some of the past month here!!
Now is the time to try it out for half off (regular $19.95 + tax))!!! Just click here and enter the Promo Code: HALFOFF when you sign up and you will get August and September at half off. If you sign up after August 10th, you can get September and October half off!!! WOOT WOOT!!! Totally worth every penny as you will be getting a clear block, 2 stamp sets, and a minimum of 2 ink pads (sometimes the kit comes with 2 so you could get up to 4). Also all of the supplies and instructions.
Don’t forget to add my name as your Demonstrator so I can send you a Thank You Card each month!!
The Sweet Stack Project Kit is adorable! Who wouldn’t love to walk into a party and see this amazing cake sitting there and then find out you get to take a slice of cake home with you?!?!?! How fabulous? Thank goodness there is a kit for this because I don’t think I could have created something this amazing on my own!!! This kit is great for parties and events to put treats, gifts, favors, and so much more in. You could always decorate it specifically to your party theme as well!!!
See how pretty this is!!!! It wasn’t until I looked at these photos that I realized how off center my “cake” is on that pedestal. 🙂 This kit is super fun but I will admit there was a lot of repetitive stamping which seemed to last forever……especially those dots on the side of all 10 big slices!!! Otherwise this kit was fairly easy to put together!!!
The cake stand is really easy to assemble. I haven’t glued mine yet to the pedestal but you will for sure want to do that when you use this kit because I have knocked mine over a few times just having it in my craft room. (Although my husband said he wasn’t surprised so maybe I’m just clumsy!) The scallop border already has adhesive on the back so that was really simple to apply. You can have yours hanging off a bit like mine or all the way up. If it is hanging off a bit, be sure to store the box upside down as to not bend those scallops!
The cake slices are easy to assemble once the stamping is done. I found the stamping to take the longest. The instructions showed you where to stamp your top image for the top of the slice of cake and I didn’t like that. If you go by the instructions, your seam for assembling the cake is at the top and I wanted mine to be at the bottom (more hidden) in case I didn’t get it perfectly lined up. So I used the triangle in the middle as my top of the slice. Be sure to stamp your “cake layer” hearts from the Sweet Stack Stamp Set right side up on either side of the cake. For the greeting on the top, you can leave it blank or pick from a few different greetings from the Sweet Stack Stamp Set. I did mine all the same and like the photo on the instructions. I do like the way the candle sits right in the middle of it!! Also, for the “icing flap” I only used adhesive on the top so that I could still get into my box without ripping into it. You could always add a little more adhesive once you have stuffed the boxes and it is go time!!
For the candles, I was really impressed with this. I really wondered how you get the candle to stand up so well and Stampin’ Up really nailed it!!! It is super simple but I did a little modification. I took a 3/4″ Circle Punch and some scrap paper and stuck the candle to that circle for some added strength. This helped secure the bottoms and hold them up super easy!!
The banner came with tons of little banner so you could easily do a few different ones. I thought about doing Celebrate but I was short one “E” so I went with Congrats. I figured that would work for any occasion! I adhered my banners with a Stampin’ Dimensional and looped the twine through the top (not stuck on the Dimensional). This allows me to move my banners along the twine and even remove them and add more later if I wish! Love it!
You can see the Unboxing and Reveal of this kit in this video here! Then by request, I did another video showing the assembly of the kit here!!! Be sure to give it a thumbs up if you liked it and don’t forget to subscribe!!!!
If you would like to check out some of the other New Kits from the Catalog, I have enjoyed lots of them – Tin of Cards and Watercolor Wishes!!!
Months ago I started working with an amazing couple who were planning their wedding! Their colors were those in a sunset – Real Red, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight. You know how much I love my bright colors!!! I really enjoyed creating the perfect wedding suite for this couple!!!
The invitation was a 5″ x 7″ Invite printed on Whisper White and then I used my Sponge Daubers to add all of those fun colors!!! My fingers did get rather inky but it was totally worth it!!!
I added some Silver Ribbon towards the bottom and stamped the scroll-y flower image from the Flowering Flourishes Stamp Set in Perfect Plum at the top!!! Then I layered it onto a piece of Melon Mambo!!! The Hotel Card and RSVP cards were printed on Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie respectively with the Perfect Plum stamped image on them as well!!!
How adorable are these? The Bride came up with this amazing saying that is a sweet as the cake pops they were attached to! The tags were printed on each of the colors – Perfect Plum, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, and Pumpkin Pie!!! I used the Label Collections (now retired) Framelits to cut them out and the little oval for the ribbon to slide through was created with the Chalk Talk Framelits!!! Love it!!!!
I really enjoy working with Brides and Grooms to create their perfect wedding! Each bride has such amazing ideas and I love it! You can check out some of the others I have created here! If you are getting married, planning a birthday party or anniversary party or any other type of celebration, let me know! I would love to help you create the perfect piece for your event – Invitations, Programs, Save The Dates, Place Cards, Favor Tags, and much more!!!
Happy Tuesday everyone!!! You know what that means…..I have a technique to share with you today! This one is fun….minus the fussy cutting……and super amazing!!! NOTE: Save the cut out flower in the stamp case for future use!!!!!
Isn’t this card stunning in it’s simplicity? You could use this technique for some many different styles of cards as well! Let’s get started on this masking fun!!!!
SUPPLIES NEEDED: Scrap Paper, Stamps, Ink
The supplies this week are super simple. All you have to do is stamp your image onto a piece of scrap paper. I used the flower from the You’ve Got This Stamp Set! You don’t need to cut it out perfectly or even exactly on the lines. You can do a general cutting around the edges cut. This is the hardest part……boo for fussy cutting! 🙂 Now this part you can do 2 different ways depending on your preference! I did the next step by placing the mask on my Whisper White cardstock and stamping the background image from the You’ve Got This Stamp Set over top. Your mask leaves an open spot for you to stamp the flower next without having the background image behind it! I had a stamper at class ask me how you would do it if you have the Wood Block You’ve Got This Stamp Set. For that, you would stamp your flower, lay the mask on top, and then stamp your background. This way you don’t have to worry about exact placement when stamping the flower. Now you are all set. Layer that onto a piece of Crumb Cake and then onto your Pool Party card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals! I thought the sides needed a little something so I finished the card off with a few pearls on each side!!! You could also rotate your flower the other way, adhere it higher on the card and stamp a greeting of your choice on the bottom!!! This card is perfect for lots of different occasions!!!
You could also do this technique and color in the flower or use a greeting in the middle rather than a flower. So many fun ways using the masking technique!!! If you would like to see this in action, check out my Video Tutorial below! Don’t forget to give it a thumbs up if you liked it!!!
I think I’m really starting to like Gray a little more lately! Do you ever have a color that you don’t use for awhile and then when you do, you find yourself reaching for it a lot??
For this card, I used a Whisper White card base. I took a piece of Bermuda Bay and ran it through the Big Shot with the Polka Dot Embossing Folder. Then I took my Sponge Dauber and colored the raised dots a little for a darker look!!! I love sponge daubers! I added that to the card front. I used the Banner Triple Punch to create the banner tips in the gray striped paper from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack!!! For the circles, I used the Circle Framelits which layer so perfectly together. I stamped the Dude greeting from the April Paper Pumpkin Kit in Bermuda Bay and then stamped it a second and third time without re-inking the stamp. I love the ombre look! After stamping the Dude, I added in the Hey! Of course the circles were added to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals! I thought it needed a little something more so I added the little bow with some Basic Gray Baker’s Twine! Does this mean it isn’t manly anymore?? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Friday!!!! The rain is temporarily gone and oh my goodness the summer heat has arrived!!! Here in Illinois it has been in the upper 90’s with heat index way over 100. The worst part is the humidity and threat for storms. The best part is I don’t feel bad for staying inside in my Stamp Room because it’s too hot outside!!!! I hope you had a wonderful week and here’s to an amazing weekend but first the Weekly Deals!!!!
You may have noticed that Stampin’ Up! has added more items to the Weekly Deals each week but they have also put a cap on the amount of items they will sell at that sale price so be sure to shop early to get these amazing deals!!!
I also thought I would share some fun that I had recently with a great group of girls!!!
This groups of ladies had some family in town that wanted to stamp so we had a private class with some of the cards she had picked out from my bog!!! Some of the cards used retired product so I re-created them with some current stuff! Love it!!! We had an amazing time with lots of laughter and stamping!!! The Butterfly card can be seen here! I love the purple version and so does Debbie since that’s her favorite color!!! The Flip Flad card using the new Bohemian Designer Series Paper can be seen here! That adorable box card can be seen here! I think I love it more with the Cherry On Top Paper Stack!!!
If you would like to have a private class with you and your friends, just let me know and we can pick and date and time that works best for you – your place or mine!!!
Okay everyone, you know I like to be honest with you on Stampin’ Up’s kits…..some are hard but still rewarding and some are not my style and some are amazing!!! PS: I still have the flower bouquet in my kitchen and I love it but memories of putting it together still haunt me. Oh my that was a long process! With the new Stampin’ Up Catalog came LOTS of kits and I couldn’t wait to try them all out!!! You can check out the Tin of Cardshere which was lots of fun and the tin is adorable! Then there is the Sweet Stack Kit which I have assembled and will be posting about that next week but until then you can check out this video! Then there is the Watercolor Wishes Project Kit…….I LOVE this one for a couple of reasons. 1. It includes everything you need in the kit – stamps, embellishments, and ink!!!! 2. The Stamp Set is amazing. You know I’m a sucker for a scroll-y font!!! Then I made all 20 of the cards in 65 minutes and really fell in love!!! Here they are for you to check out and fall in love!
I used the provided instructions a little bit but then added my own flare on a few of them. For example, I didn’t embellish that Hello card in the middle at all. Also, I LOVE ombre so I had to do that a few times as well! I think I mixed up almost all of the die-cut stickers as well because I didn’t like one of the color combinations and so that threw them all off.
Okay so looking back at that center card, I’m even more in love. It is just STUNNING in it’s simplicity and with a little bling from the sequins! Another card that I changed up was the one on the far left. I left off the heart wooden accents because I thought it looked like a great Man Card.
Here is the final set of all 20 cards…..by the way did you notice that it is 20 different cards and not X number of X style. Yeah, twenty different styles. LOVE IT!!! I did time myself just to see how long it took to do this kit and at the hour mark I still had 2 more to go so it ended up taking 65 minutes. That isn’t bad at all. The other awesome thing is look at all of these leftovers!!!!
Stampin’ Up always provided so much product in each of the kits. I still have Stampin’ Dimensionals, flowers, stickers, tons of Washi Tape, wooden accents and sequins left. Also, don’t forget I still have a fabulous stamp set and 2 ink pads. LOVE IT! To see all of the goodies in this kit, you can check out my Unboxing and Reveal Video here!!!! (Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel because I’m almost at 1,000 and I will be doing a fabulous give-away when that happens)
Have you tried any of the kits? Which one is your favorite and why??? Let me know in the comments below!
I love Punch Art and the many things you can create like my little lion, Kirby, Cozy Coupe, and Princess Peach!!! Today it is Legos!!!! Believe it or not, I did not make this card specifically for my husband (like all of the video game ones above). He does love Legos and could play with them for hours so it might end up going to him!!!
I started with a Whisper White card base and then took a piece of Basic Black (4″ x 5-1/4″) and ran it through the Big Shot with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder! This gave the background the look of the lego board with all of the dots in it! For all of the lego pieces I used the 1″ Square Punch and the smaller circle from the Owl Builder Punch! I added the squares to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals to give it some more texture. For all of the little dots on top, I used Mini Glue Dots! You can place them on the card in any pattern you wish! The colors I used were Pacific Point, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, and Cucumber Crush! To finish off the little lego pieces, I took the White Chalk Marker and added a little swish to make it look like it had shine! It is as simple as that!!!
Happy Tuesday, stampers!!! I hope your week is going well! Today is Tuesday so that means I have a fabulous technique to share with you. I’m loving this one because of the amazing colors!!! Of course you could pick any 2 colors to do this technique! I picked Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry!!!! Let’s Rock and Roll!!!!
So I have always known this technique as the Rock and Roll Technique where you in the stamp up in a lighter color and then rock and roll the stamp on a darker color in pad to get those edges inked up. Welcome to Laura’s Stamp Pad and the love of Sponge Daubers….this is now called Ink & Pounce! I can make up any name for it, right? Let’s get started!
SUPPLIES NEEDED: Background stamp or any large solid stamp, 2 ink pads, Sponge Daubers
I used the background image from the You’ve Got This Stamp Set and inked it up in Melon Mambo. Then I sat the stamp down and took my Sponge Dauber and Rich Razzleberry Ink and pounced all around the edges!!! I prefer this method because then any excess Melon Mambo ink is going into my sponge dauber and not my ink pad. Also since this image isn’t perfectly round or the exact shape, I don’t have to worry that a spot didn’t get any Rich Razzleberry. Once you have both colors on your stamp, flip it over and stamp it down onto some Whisper White cardstock! It’s that simple! You could always add in more colors, create an ombre look going light to dark, or camouflage with a few colors. You can have fun with it and create lots of different looks! I stamped the greeting from Lovely Amazing You in the center with Stazon Black Ink. For the ribbon, I used the New Melon Mambo Satin Stitched Ribbon and tied it around a piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock (1″ x 4″). I added that to the white carsdtock and then placed it on the Melon Mambo card base! Simple and yet super fabulous! Who else is loving these colors???? What colors would you pick?? Leave me a comment down below!
To see this in action, check out my Video Tutorial below! Don’t forget to give it a thumbs up if you liked it!!!
