Nov 17 2014

Terrific Little Trees!!!

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

I love these little trees in the Festival of Trees Stamp Set and since they are Photopolymer you can see exactly where you are stamping! I decided to share this sample card with you to show off a little bit of my craziness! 😉 I’m a crazy stamper just like all of you! You will see that the little tree with the purple dots is REALLY covered in dots. That is because I stamped the tree and then took my Blackberry Bliss Marker and colored in all of the dots. Then about 3 samples later of playing with this stamp set, I realized “there’s a stamp for that.” NOTE: I used the stamp for that already as little snow dots on a background piece. So I had used the stamp but didn’t realize it was meant for the tree ornaments. (me shaking my head)

Here is a photo of the stamps in the set. There is garland and the ornaments (dots) that you can use to decorate your trees. Of course the dots fit perfectly in the tree on the top left. Stampin’ Up! – 1, Laura – 0

Of course you can color in the dots on the trees with a marker but I will say it was quite tedious! 😉 Now for the card basics, I started with an Old Olive card base and added a 4-1/4″ x 3-1/4″ piece of Blackberry Bliss with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then I took a piece of 3″ x 4″x Whisper White cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with the Stripes Embossing Folder. You know how I love to add texture! I stamped the Merry Christmas greeting at the bottom in Blackberry Bliss. This greeting was from the October promotional set – Good Greetings. You could also use the Merry Christmas from Teeny Tiny Wishes or any other favorite set of yours! For the trees, I stamped them in Old Olive on some scrap Whisper White and then punched them out with the coordinating Tree Punch (Bundle & Save)! I attached them to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals! Adorable!

I hope you enjoyed this card! You can see other samples using the Festival of Trees Stamp Set here!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 14 2014

Banner Blessings!!!

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Friday everyone!!!! Today I am excited to share with you a new Photopolymer Stamp Set that Stampin’ Up released just this week! I am really loving giant greetings on cards and then just adding a little punched flower or some Rhinestones or mounting that on top of some embossed cardstock (like these)! Simple, yet fabulous! This Banner Blessings Stamp Set is perfect for that too! Click here to get yours today!

Of course, what is a Friday without the Weekly Deals too!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend and why not stamp in the coziness of your home this weekend because Brrrrr, it’s cold outside! Share with me what projects you are working on in the comments below!

Happy Stampin’
~Laura

Nov 13 2014

Winter Wondrous Wreath

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

So on Monday, I showed you a fabulous Fall Wreath and today I’m going to show you this fabulous Winter Wreath!

The card above is perfect for Christmas or even just Winter if you changed the greeting! Again, you can use this card for Winter Birthdays, Thank Yous, Thinking of You, and even Christmas cards! I used the Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set & coordinating Wonderful Wreath Framelits which also come in a Bundle and you save 15%!

I started off with a Whisper White card base and then I cut out another piece of Whisper White measuring 4″ x 5-1/4″. I used this second piece to stamp my Hardwood image on. You could stamp it right onto your card front but I found this to be easier because if I mess up (it happens) I can just flip over the piece of paper and try again! Thank goodness there are 2 sides to every piece of paper, am I right? The other thing I like about this is that it gives my card some dimension. After stamping the hardwood image, I adhered this piece with some Stampin’ Dimensionals! 🙂 For the Wreath, I used a piece of Whisper White cardstock and I stamped the super leafy image in Wild Wasbi (being sure to note that the tab on the stamp is facing up). Now you will take your partial leafy image and ink it in Garden Green and with the tab facing up stamp it right on top of the leaves. Finally, with the dots image, you will ink it up in Cherry Cobbler and with the tab up, you will stamp it down. Note: With this one, the tab will be facing up, but you will want to center the stamp around the wreath. Once you are done stamping, you will use the coordinating Framelits – Wonderful Wreath Framelits, you will cut out the stamped wreath! You will also want to stamp the Ribbon in Cherry Cobbler on a piece of scrap Whisper White and cut that out with the matching Framelit. No need for any fussy cutting here! Woot Woot! I attached the wreath to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals and the ribbon to the wreath with regular Snail Adhesive! For the greeting, I stamped the Happy Wonderful Christmas from the Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set and punched it out with my Large Oval Punch and adhered it to my card with more Stampin’ Dimensionals! You can never have enough of those on hand!

In case my instructions above got you all lost and confused, I created a Video Tutorial for you! Be sure to give it a thumbs up if you liked it and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out on any of the other samples you saw in the video! 🙂

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 12 2014

My Digital Studio – 2014 Scrapbook!!!

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Last year I did my scrapbook digitally with My Digital Studio and I after seeing how easy and fun it was, I have decided to do my 2014 Album the same! You can check out my 2013 Album here and here!

I love love love the Olympics! 631 more days till the 2016 Summer Olympics!!!!! I enjoy all of the sports, the energy, excitement and fun of the entire event! There have been many time I have been brought to tears seeing how proud the Olympians are, how far they have come, hearing the National Anthem! I just love it all! I take notes and enjoy the “phrases” that they use! This year for the 2014 Winter Olympics I took notes of these funnies and amazing moments to document in my scrapbook! I really love how this page turned out and to remember those amazing weeks!

These pages document our annual shopping trip for my niece’s birthday! We always have a great time and laugh till our bellies hurt! I always enjoy capturing the fun of the day and my niece growing up! As you can see my pages are fairly simple with some patterned paper as the background! I layered all of the pictures on coordinating colored cardstock and I rounded the corners for a soft look! Also, I journal A LOT more with my digital album because typing is so much easier and if I mess up, I can just hit backspace rather than find a sticker or punched flower (etc) to cover it up! 🙂 Come on….you have all done that, right?

Is she not the most precious little girl ever? For this page, I actually grabbed the color of her hair bow and dress to use as the colors for the background and photo layering. That is a super fabulous feature in My Digital Studio when none of the other patterns or solids seem to work! Simple yet focuses on that adorable face which is the most important thing for me! I prefer simple pages with lots and lots of photos! That is just my scrapbooking style! If you prefer one focal photo with some embellishments in the corner or along the bottom, you can do that too! There are so many different options with My Digital Studio! Check out these….

For these pages, I added some “washi tape” to the corners of the photos which adds a fabulous look! I love the simple and playful look it gives. Again you can see I love putting lots of photos on my pages! 🙂 My Digital Studio comes with LOTS of photo layouts that include any where from 1 to 15 photos on a page. You can always download more like these or this baby album here! Don’t worry if you don’t like all of the pages or layouts, you can always create your own or delete out 1 photo from a page or even add a photo! There is so much flexibility to My Digital Studio! You can try out My Digital Studio for 30 Days for Free by clicking here and if you want to purchase the software you can here! There are new downloads every month so be sure to check those out if you are looking for something specific or a certain type of album that you would like to create!

I’ll be sharing more of my 2014 Album soon so be on the lookout!

Happy Scrapbookin’

~Laura

Nov 11 2014

Technique Tuesday – Joy & Noel!

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Tuesday!!!! You know what that means….I have a have technique for you…..or trick/tip for you! So let’s get started on this amazing tip!

So the trick I have for today focuses on the JOY in this card! These small little word Framelits can be difficult to pop out of the die because they are so thin and delicate. Of course there are little holes that you can use to poke through to pop it out but sometimes that leaves little dots on your letters. TIP: Lay a piece of wax paper on top of your Silver Foil Sheet and then the Die on top of that. Run it through the Big Shot and when it comes to popping it out – Easy Peasy! 🙂

For the rest of the card…..I started with a Cherry Cobbler card base! I added a 2-1/2″ x 4″ piece of Flower Pot Designer Series Paper on the bottom portion. The top portion of Whisper White measures 3-1/2″ x 4″ and I used my Lucky Stars Embossing Folder to add a little pop and texture! I added some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding to cover the overlapping of the white and Designer Series Paper. I stamped a few of the flowers from the Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set and used the coordinating Wonderful Wreath Framelits (Bundle & Save) to cut them out. No fussy cut necessary! 🙂 Of course I had to add a few Rhinestones for some bling! Then for the Joy, I used the Silver Foil Sheets (and some wax paper)! Beautiful and Amazing!!!

Of course you can use this trick for all of your little Framelits and not just the Wonderful Wreath ones! Let me know what you think of this trick and if it worked well for you in the comments below!

Also, I can’t do this post with making sure to say Happy Veterans Day! Thank you so much to all of the men and women who fight for our country!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 10 2014

Fall Wondrous Wreath

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Like many of you, I like to have a wreath on my front door! I love driving up to my place and seeing that beautiful wreath and thinking I live here! I love it! It also helps my fellow stampers find my place! 🙂 The Holiday Mini Catalog has this amazing stamp set called Wondrous Wreath & coordinating Wonderful Wreath Framelits (Bundle) and the samples show this amazing holly wreath! While it is a stunning wreath, there are so many other ways you can use this stamp set just like there are so many different styles of wreaths you can put on your front door!

The card above is perfect for Fall! You can use this card for Fall Birthdays, Thank Yous, Thinking of You, and even Thanksgiving Day cards! I started off with a Soft Suede card base and then I cut out another piece of Soft Suede measuring 4″ x 5-1/4″. I used this second piece to stamp my Hardwood image on. You could stamp it right onto your card front but I found this to be easier because if I mess up (it happens) I can just flip over the piece of paper and try again! Thank goodness there are 2 sides to every piece of paper, am I right? The other thing I like about this is that it gives my card some dimension. After stamping the hardwood image, I adhered this piece with some Stampin’ Dimensionals! 🙂 For the Wreath, I used a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and I stamped the super leafy image in Crumb Cake (being sure to note that the tab on the stamp is facing up). Now you will take your partial leafy image and ink it in Soft Suede and with the tab facing up stamp it right on top of the leaves. Finally, with the dots image, you will ink it up in Tangelo Twist and with the tab up, you will stamp it down. Note: With this one, the tab will be facing up, but you will want to center the stamp around the wreath. No worries, if this all sounds crazy to you, I created a Video Tutorial showing you what I mean! 🙂 Once you are done stamping, you will use the coordinating Framelits – Wonderful Wreath Framelits, you will cut out the stamped wreath! No need for any fussy cutting here! Woot Woot! I added a little bow of Linen Thread and attached it to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals! For the greeting, I stamped it from the Good Greetings Stamp Set which was a promotional item in October! You can always use a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes or another favorite set you have!

Here is the Video Tutorial for you! Be sure to give it a thumbs up if you liked it and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out on any of the other samples you saw in the video! 🙂

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 7 2014

Fall Decorations & Fabulous Deals!

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Friday!!! I thought I would share some of my Fall Decorations! I’m not a huge decorator for each season (mostly because I don’t like storing it all the other months of the year)! But this is one decoration that is simple, cute, and easy to store! That’s right up my alley!!!

How cute are these? They would be great on a mantel, kitchen table, hall table, and just about anywhere! Each of these pumpkins was created with 1″ strips of paper. The length of the paper varies for each one (smallest – 4″ and largest – 11″). You could even go 12″ with your Designer Series Paper. I used Cajun Craze and Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper. You can add as many stripes as you wish for a fuller pumpkin or just a few like the one against the wall. For some reason I made that one with just a few strips so I make it a half pumpkin and lay it against the wall or table! Once you have your strips of paper 1″ wide and however long you wish. You will take your 1/8″ Hand Held Hole Punch and punch a hole near the end on both ends. You don’t want to go in too far because then you will have lots of overlapping paper. Once you have holes on both ends of all of your strips, you can either add a brad to each end to hold them all together or you can put string through the holes. If you use a brad (I like the Antique Brads), you are all done and can start separating the stripes and fanning them out to make your pumpkin. If you are using ribbon, you will run all the pieces on one end through the ribbon and tie a knot on the outside. Now take the other end and do the same. With the ribbon, you can pull tight and make your pumpkin squatty or allow more ribbon and it is more tall or round! Now you can separate the strips and fan out your pumpkin. The best part is at the end of the season, just collapse all of the strips up again and you can store it flat! Love it!!!!

Of course, what is a Friday without the Weekly Deals to swoon over!!! 🙂

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 6 2014

I’m Dreaming of a Blue Christmas!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

I am just loving the blues this years…in particular Lost Lagoon!! This card really shows that! 🙂 I started off with a card base of Whisper White and added a piece of All is Calm Designer Series Paper (4″ x 5-1/4″). I am loving the patterns and colors of this paper and have gone through a few packs already! Check out this sample and this sample! Next I stamped 3 different trees from the Festival of Trees Stamp Set in Lost Lagoon and punched them out with the coordinating Tree Punch (Bundle & Save)! I cut a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock (4-1/4″ x 3-1/4″) and Whisper White cardstock (4″ x 3″) out and used my Corner Rounder Punch on all corners. My greeting is from the Good Greetings Stamp Set which was a promotional stamp set last month! You can always use a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes, Endless Wishes or any other favorite set you have. Adhere your Whisper White onto your Lost Lagoon and then tie a piece of Lost Lagoon Satin Stitched Ribbon around it. You can always just tie it into a knot or you can do a bow like I did. That one came out pretty good so I kept it, other times I pull it out and leave it as a knot! 😉 I adhered this piece to my card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals and then added my 3 trees. The solid tree was put on with Snail Adhesive and the other two were put on with Dimensionals! I love my dimensionals something fierce! Now you are all set and just a need to write in the inside and in the mail it goes!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 5 2014

Seasonally Scattered!!!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

The title of this blog post is the name of this amazing stamp set but while typing this out I feel it defines this time of year perfectly! Leaves scatter across the yard, we run around trying to soak up every last warm nice day before winter comes, and my stamp room is a scattered mess! Can you relate?

In the mist of all the craziness, this card is super simple to throw together. You will start off with a Whisper White card base measuring 4-1/4″ x 11″, layer on a piece of Pumpkin Pie measuring 4″ x 5-1/4″. Then with another piece of Whisper White measuring 3-3/4″ x 5″, stamp the Thanks Greeting from the Seasonally Scattered Stamp Set in Pumpkin Pie and adhere to your card front. Now using your flower punch from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack, you will punch out 6 little flowers in Hello Honey. Adhere them together (off-set) with Mini Glue Dots and adhere to your card randomly (or in a triangle pattern which is what my “random” is). Add some Rhinestones to the flowers and you are all set! How simple was that? Not simple enough….you could always leave out the top 2 layers and stamp your greeting on your Whisper White card base and adhered your flowers! Just as fabulous and with fewer layers! 🙂

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Nov 4 2014

Technique Tuesday – Curvy Keepsake Boxes!!!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Tuesday!!! You know what that means…..I have a fabulous technique to share with you today (with a Video Tutorial)! Woot Woot!!!! These little boxes are so adorable and super easy to assemble (I was surprised at how easy)!

Supplies Needed: Big Shot, Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlet Die, Cardstock, Vellum or Designer Series Paper, Embellishments, Sticky Strip or Fast Fuse

You will need a piece of cardstock (vellum or Designer Series Paper) measuring 9″ x 5-1/2″. This is enough to cut out 2 pieces with the Curvy Keepsake Die. Place the Die on your paper, run it through your Big Shot and repeat! Now that you have your piece die-cut pieces, you will fold on the score lines (3 per die-cut). If you are using cardstock and would like to stamp on it, now is the time. It is much easier to stamp now then after it is assembled! 😉 Now I like to run the tabs on each die over my bone folder a bit to break those fibers a little and allow the box to curve. Using Sticky Strip or Fast Fuse, you will apply adhesive to one of the squares on the die (don’t go super close to the edge). Now you will take the die-cut that doesn’t have adhesive and lay it on top, matching up the corners to the edge of the score line. Your squares will not overlap exactly (if they do, your corners will not lay correctly). Here is a photo showing you what I mean!

Now you just need to pull the 2 tabs together and slip the other ends over the tabs are you are all done! You can always add some ribbon, charms, tags, or punched pieces to decorate as you wish!!!! The box on the left in the top photo was done with Whisper White cardstock and I stamped snowflakes from the Endless Wishes Stamp Set all over it using Night of Navy, Lost Lagoon, and Pool Party Ink. The box on the right was done with All is Calm Designer Series Paper and I added some Silver Ribbon and Pool Party Cotton Ribbon to the top. I also added a little tag using the circle tag die from the Curvy Keepsake Die Set and added a little All is Calm Snowflake Embellishment!

This one is super fabulous because you can use it like a lantern. It was created with the Silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum (it comes in Gold as well, after all Gold is In!) It was created the same way but in the end I added a little tea light inside for a glow! This would be amazing on a Christmas Tree, in a window, on a table place setting, mantle, wedding decoration and so much more!

I saved the best for last. Ohhhhh Ahhhhhh I know I know! It is PRECIOUS! This would be the cutest thing ever for a Baby Shower or Birthday Party or a Spring Party (oh I’m dreaming of spring already)! I created the box with Real Red Cardstock, added 1/2″ Circle Punch black dots (5 on each side). For the body, I used a 1-3/4″ Circle Punch in Black and 1-3/8″ Circle Punch in Smoky Slate. For the head, I used a 1″ Circle Punch in Black! The eyes and antenna were created with the Cupcake Builder Punch and Owl Builder Punch. Yep those are cherries you see upside down as the antenna! I did brush the edges of the Smoky Slate with my Basic Black Sponge Dauber to soften the edges and I dotted the eyes with my Chalk Marker! 🙂 Love it!!!!!

To see the Curvy Keepsake Die in action, check out my Video Tutorial below! Don’t forget to give it a Thumbs Up if you like and be sure to Subscribe so you don’t ever miss out on any of my videos!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura