Blogger's Challenge #136: Happy Birthday!

Our challenge for the week was "birthday".  I needed a birthday card for a young man so this was perfect timing.  I cased the card from the May 2009 issue of Stamper's Success, a magazine published exclusively for SU demos.  I changed up the colors, the background texture (which the picture doesn't capture well) and the label but other than that, I copied it completely! 

That's an important thing to note.  I deal with copying quite a bit as a teacher.  I always tell my students that it's a compliment when someone copies you.  However, in the world of creativity and such, it is essential to give the original creator all of the credit!  The Stampin' Success doesn't mention the creator's name which only tells me it was a Stampin' Up! employee but that person had my idea originally!

The card is a bound-edge card.  To do this, simply score a selected distance from the fold of the card and score.  The ribbon makes the card  appear to be "bound" together.

Please be sure to see how the other BC members celebrated birthdays today!  Happy Friday everyone!

Blogger's Challenge #135: Die Cuts and Punches

What a fun challenge our challenge leader, Lisa, gave us!  We were to use die cuts or punches.  I used both!

I began with my brand new die for my Big Shot called Fancy Favor.  I changed it up a bit, though.  First thing was to trim off the "fancy" portion.  I love the decorative trim that the box comes with but I wanted to use my SaleaBration FREE Scallop Trim Border punch.  The intent was to weave some crochet thread through the holes of the trim.  (Where's the crochet thread?  Decided I did NOT like it, after all!)  Before assembling the box, I stamped on the front and back of the box with the Vintage Vogue stamp set.  Using some felt and the Birds and Blooms Sizzlet 4 pack, I added the bird atop an Large Oval punch, layered with the Scalloped Oval punch.

Hope you enjoy it and see what the other BC girls were punching and die cutting this week!

Hugs!

Taking care of your Ink Pads

The Stampin' Up! ink pads are the best...I know I sell them but I owned them BEFORE I became a demo!  They are wonderful!  They also keep the ink for a long period of time.  BUT....lots of you out there have had some of your ink pads for awhile now and it may be time to refresh the ink!

Here's how you know:

Can you see how the corner of the ink pad is lifting up a bit?  Definitely a sign that you need to add some ink refill!  Another sign may be that images are not stamping well on your projects. 

The good news is that Stampin' Up! sells refills for all of their colors in the classic style for just $2.95 a color.  OR you could purchase an entire color family of 12 for $28.95 that would be like getting two for free!)

Let me know if you have any questions about your ink pads or need some refills!

Blogger's Challenge #134: Color Challenge!

Sorry my post for the Blogger's Challenge is so late!  But I'm here now! 

Our challenge this week was a color challenge!  LOVE it!  The colors were brown, pink and white.  I chose:  Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White as I had used those colors at my workshop this week!  I also decided to go with a 3 by 6 card to change things up a bit!

I loved the look that the paper lace gave to a previous BC card so I used the Pinking Hearts border punch with Whisper White cardstock instead.  I also didn't add any distressing to the paper this time and it gave a cleaner look. 

I used Versamark and the Vintage Vogue stamp set to create the background on the Pretty in Pink layer.  The sentiment is from a set you can get for FREE by spending $50 with me!  Email me to find out how!

The final finish to the card is the White Satin Ribbon.  The ribbon is now available in NINE more colors!  I'm so happy as the satin ribbon is so smooth and classy!

Thanks for looking and if you haven't already peeked at what the other players did this week, please do!!

Blogger's Challenge #133: Sketch!

Our challenge was a sketch this week and boy it was fun and super easy.  I'm featuring lots of new product from the Occasions Mini catty!  The first is the Designer Series Paper with glitter right on it called Sending Love.  The stamped image is from a set called Love Bandit.  Cute little critters.  The border around the main image was created using the Scallop Trim Corner punch and the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  You can get this $15.95 value punch free with your $50 or more merchandise order during Saleabration!  Contact me for more details!

Be Sure to see what the other BC players did with this sketch!  Have a happy and WARM Friday!

Blogger's Challenge #132: Celebration!

Happy New Year!

I hope that you have had a marvelous start to your new year! Ours began at 5:45 when the local police called and informed us that there had a been a hit and run at our church where my husband is a pastor and I teach. The victim...the front steps! Oh we were so HAPPY! When the phone rang, we both, almost simultaneously said, "This can't be good." It wasn't good but usually a phone call at that time is much worse news. Needless to say, there may be a nap in the future!

Our challenge today was to create a Celebration card. I thought that an anniversary card would be appropriate. My inspiration was some new DSP (Designer Series Paper) that is in the very soon to be released Occasions Mini catalog (see the link on my sidebar!) It's the Sweet Pea Paper pack. It's a 12 by 12 paper pack in which you get 48 sheets!!! It's wonderfully beautiful!



I was attempting to use a layout I saw on the Stampin' Up Demo side and the paper almost disappeared as I was creating! So, this morning, as I was already up bright and early, I dropped the paper altogether.



Sometimes less is just more! I hope that you and yours have a prosperous and joyous New Year! Please check out how the other players celebrated and join the celebration yourself!