Feb 25 2014

Technique Tuesday – Stair Step Card

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Tuesday!!! That means I have a fabulous technique to share with you! Today it is this amazing Stair Step Card. I have done a stair step before where there wasn’t an inside to the card because it was all steps. This one is still a regular sized card (A2) and there is still an inside for you to write your greeting!

I love how the butterflies look like they are flying all around and it seems more like a garden scene than a card! Here is how it was made:

Supplies Needed: All you need is cardstock and your Paper Trimmer with cutting blade and score blade (or you can use your bone folder for the scoring)

You will start with a 5-1/2” x 8-1/2” sheet of cardstock. Using your Paper Trimmer, along the 5-1/2” side you will go in 2-3/4” and CUT from the 1” line to 5-1/4” line. Now using your Score Blade (bone folders, Simply Score Tool), SCORE from the 2-3/4” vertical line to the right edge at 1”. Go another 1” up from there and SCORE again from the 2-3/4” to the right edge. Then go to the top of 2-3/4” cut line and SCORE to the edge. Now along the 8-1/2” side, you will score at 4-1/4” up to the 2-3/4” cut line.

This folds your card in half. Now it is time to decorate! I used the Papillion Potpourri Stamp Set and Elegant Butterfly Punch! I then attached the butterflies onto strips of Window Sheets (the clear pieces) and attached those to the stair steps! The flowers and greenery were stamped using the Secret Garden Stamp Set! I can’t wait to try this out with a “birthday party” scene with balloons and a cake or….I keep going back to flowers! I love love love my flower stamp sets!

I hope you try out this technique. Please share with me your ideas on what “scene” would be the best in the comments below!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 24 2014

Wedding Season is Coming!!!

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Oh how I love weddings! They are just the most wonderful event ever – filled with love and family and fabulousness (that’s a word in book ;)! As we come into the Spring Wedding Season, I thought I would show a few samples of some of the weddings I have been working on! If you are getting married, planning a Bridal Shower, Birthday Party or any other celebration and need help with the Invitations, Programs, Menu Cards, Place Cards, Information Sheets, Thank You Notes, etc., contact me today because I am happy to help you make your day even more special!

Here is a fabulous Peacock Invitation that I created. You might recognize it from one of the others I did before, click here to see that one! The Bride requested a few changes to this one – adding in the green and adding a monogram letter to the invitation rather than You’re Invited! I love it with the green! It POPS even more!

This one is soooooo SPARKLY! I love love love it! It could be created in a 5″ x 7″ or 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″. I used Silver Glimmer Paper for the base. You could always swap out for Red Glimmer Paper or Champagne Glimmer Paper (gold). I then layered Bermuda Bay and then of course the printing would go on the Whisper White! Imagine black table coverings with this as a menu card or even little place cards and then candles on the tables which would reflect the light…..ahhhh. Oh how I love weddings!!!

I hope you enjoyed these samples! Keep on the look-out for more because I have lots to share with you! And as always if you need help with your next celebration, comment below or email me. I am more than happy to help you get crafty or do the crafty stuff for you!

Feb 21 2014

Wonderful Weekly Deals!!!

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Here are the fabulous items that are on sale this week! My favorites this week are the Silver Metallic Encore Pad!! I am more of a silver girl and we all know I LOVE a little glimmer! I tend to use the Silver Ink the most around the Holidays and Winter season with snowflakes. But you can also use it for a “metal” look for a great masculine card! Another favorite of mine is the Corner Rounder Punch! There is just something soft and comfy about rounded corners. Or is that just me? 😉 Here and here are a few samples using this punch! I like using the In Color Dahlias on cards I’m going to hand deliver or gift box decorations because they are rather thick and chunky for a regular card to mail. It will probably rip right through an envelope! The Petals-A-Plenty Embossing Folder is amazing too! Looks like poinsettia’s to me but I have used it all year long for other projects as well! Be sure to stock up on these fabulous products while they are one sale! Sales ends Monday night and Tuesday a new set of items will be on sale!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 20 2014

Looking Forward to Spring!

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

This card just screams SPRING to me! Or maybe it is just me who is screaming SPRING and wishing it would come sooner! I love these colors together – Pistachio Pudding, Calypso Coral and Smoky Slate! That Ruffled Ribbon is so amazing to use sticking out of a piece of cardstock – so cute and ruffly! 🙂 I used the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper and You’re Lovely Stamp Set which are both Sale-A-Bration items that you can earn for FREE! I used my markers to color in the stamp and get such beautiful colors in those flowers and border! I love coloring in my stamps with markers because when you stamp it down it is just MAGIC. I always pick the stamp back up and am still impressed with the amazing look! The magic of ink on a stamp to paper still amazes me! 🙂 I used the Deco Label Framelit to cut out this image perfectly! I love how the Framelits and Stamps match up so well! Let me know in the comments below which stamp set and punch or framelit is your favorite combination!

Happy Spring Thoughts,

~Laura

Feb 19 2014

Wonderful Flower With Watercolor!

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

I love this card because it is bright colors, has PINK in it, has FLOWERS in it and it says SMILE! Who wouldn’t love getting this card in the mail for a special occasion or just because? I know I would! This card uses the new Peaceful Petals Stamp Set from the Occasions Mini Catalog! I stamped the large flower image 3 times on the left hand side. TIP: Stamp the middle one first and then stamp on either sides, this helps with spacing a little more. I then stamped the Smile greeting from the Happy Day Stamp Set on the bottom of the Calypso Coral cardstock. After stamping the greeting, I ran it through my Big Shot (you could use your Texture Impressions Machine for this too) with the Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder only on the top 3/4 of the cardstock! For the center flower, stamp the flower with Stazon Ink (so it doesn’t bleed when you start coloring the petals) and then using your Blender Pens and ink from your ink pad or re-inkers, color the flower petals as desired! Just dab in the ink and color till it runs out and then go back for more. Of course, I love a bold image so I was going back for more often. You could also add shading to the petals and so much more. I love this kind of watercoloring….to me it is kind of like faux watercoloring! You can really add lots of POP to your project with this kind of coloring! Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 18 2014

Technique Tuesday – Interlocking Card

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Laura's Stamp Pad

Happy Tuesday!!! That means I have a fabulous technique for you and this one that will for sure make you say, “WOW”!

Supplies Needed: Daydream Medallion Stamp Set, Floral Frames Framelits, and cardstock

Of course you can substitute the stamp set and Framelits to any set you have on hand or your favorite! This pair is my current love. Every time I need a card, I am just drawn to this set! Check out some more samples here, here, and here! Your card base for this one is 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ and you will score at 2-1/8″ and 6-3/8″. Fold on those score lines and you will have your gate-fold card base. Then you need to stamp and cut out each of the layers in any color combination you wish to use! I used Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple, and Primrose Petal! Now it is time to assemble them all together. So I stamped the largest image in Summer Starfruit onto my card front, then I added the stamped and die-cut next largest down by adhering it only on the left side of the gate. Then with the last two flowers, I layered them on top of each other with some Stampin’ Dimensionals (love), laid the card closed, added adhesive to the right side and put the piece down just like a puzzle piece.

You can see the pieces better here in this photo with the card opened up! On the inside of this card I stamped the smallest of the flowers in this stamp set and my Thank You greeting! This card really has a WOW factor to it and it is fairly simple to create! You could use any of the layering Framelits with this technique! I hope you try this out. Send me pictures of your card when you try this technique! I would love to see them!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 17 2014

Sale-A-Brate Everything!

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

The card is not my typical style. I usually stick with a more simple style card and I don’t usually use so many layers but every once in a while you need to break tradition. It is so much more fun adding texture and layers to your card when its FREE too! I used lots of fabulous Sale-A-Bration items for this card! Can you pick out all of the items I used? Decorative Dots Embossing Folder for a little extra texture and bump bump! 🙂 And the dots went so well with the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper! I added the Paper Lace Doily to the back of the greeting strip as well! Then I used my Banner Blast Stamp Set and matching Banner Punch which are both items that you can earn for FREE through Sale-A-Bration! The thank you greeting is from the Lots of Thanks Stamp Set which is one of my favorites, since I make lots of Thank You cards!!! I finished it off with a little bling – a star in Champagne Glimmer Paper! So what do you think? Too many layers? Love it? Needs more? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 14 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

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

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! I love Valentine’s Day because it is a wonderful day of showing your love! Of course, we should show our love every day of the year but this day is dedicated to it! Here are some of the ways I showed my love!

Each of my nieces and nephews got a little monster with a piece of candy in it! I thought those were fitting….after all they are all my little monsters. 😉 The treat bags went to their parents! I didn’t want to leave them out and of course if the children needed more candy, there was plenty in there! And this fabulous card went to my #1 Valentine – MY HUSBAND!

That card was created with the Banner Blast Stamp Set and matching Banner Punch from the Sale-A-Bration brochure! The little heart made a perfect background as well as a cute banner! I used Strawberry Slush cardstock and ink on this one….of course it had to be PINK, my favorite! I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and know that I love you all today and every day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

~Laura

Feb 13 2014

NEW Personalized Stamps!!!!

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

I love how Stampin’ Up is allowing us to create our own stamps now! This fabulous NEW Photopolymer Stamp can be personalized to whatever you want it to be. Here are just a few ways you could use this stamp:

~Address stamp
~Thank you
~From the classroom of (for a teacher gift)
~From the kitchen of
~Made with love
~This book belongs to
~From the desk of
~Just married
~Save the date
~Promote your business (add your name, website, and contact info)

So many fabulous ways that you could use this stamp! It coordinates with the 1-3/8″ Circle Punch and you will need Clear Block B or bigger! Order your’s today by clicking here! And don’t forget if there is another image you would like to stamp but can’t seem to find a match with a set in the catalog, you can create your own with the Undefined Kit! Check out one of mine here! I hope you try it out and be sure to share with my your carved stamp as I would LOVE to see what you come up with!

Happy Stampin’

~Laura

Feb 12 2014

Weekly Deals – I’m So Excited!

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

This week’s Weekly Deals have me SUPER EXCITED!!!!! The Floral Frames Framelits are on sale this week and that is HUGE!!!! I love these frames and the matching Daydream Medallion Stamp Set!

You can check out a few posts I have done with the Floral Frames Framelits by clicking here and here! And I have a few more more projects coming next week using these amazing framelits. LOVE THEM!!!!! The best part is you can get the Daydream Medallion Stamp Set, Floral Framelits and one other little item to get your order to $50, and then you get to pick out a FREE items from the Sale-A-Bration brochure! Gotta love free stuff!!!

Another favorite item of mine that is on sale this week is the Artisan Label Punch! I just recently got this punch (within the last 2 months) and it is amazing! There is a matching stamp set for this punch as well – Label Love! You can check out a few samples here using those fabulous products!

Remember these items are only on sale until Monday, February 17 at midnight! You can always ask your Valentine for Stamp stuff this year! That would win my heart over! 😉

Happy Stampin’

~Laura