Up, Up Away...& Goodbye

Have you seen the retiring stamps & accessories list put out by Stampin' Up! a few days ago? One of my favorite retiring sets is Up, Up & Away. I love this set because it's so versatile...it can be used for both masculine and feminine cards as well as for pretty much any occasion. Here I've used it along with some of my favorite retiring colors for a masculine birthday card.

Stamps: Up, Up & Away, You're Amazing & Lable Single Stamp
Card stock: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Baja Breeze
Ink: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Early Espresso
Accessories: Stripes & Cloudy Day Embossing Folders, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Regals Brads

Here are the links to view the retired stamps & accessories. Remember...the retiring accessories are only available while supplies last (some are already gone) so place your order soon to help insure that you get the items you want. Also note: some of the accessories are being offered at a discount.

Retiring Stamps List
Retiring Accessories List

What are your favorite retiring stamp sets & accessories?

Beautiful Baja Hydrangea

This is such a pretty image from the Best of Flowers set. Wish I could grow hydrangea in my garden! I've tried a couple times but never had luck with them here. I remember my Grandma used to have such gorgeous ones in her garden.

I used a few of my favorite colors here...Baja Breeze (Oh, how I will miss you!), Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant. I inked the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder with Eggplant ink before rolling it through the Big Shot. It really makes the embossing stand out.

Stamps: Best of Flowers & En Francais
Card stock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Black Stazon, Elegant Eggplant & various Classic Ink for water coloring
Accessories: Aqua Painter, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Window Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder & Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon & Basic Pearls

Have a beautiful weekend!

Step It Up Swallowtail

This first card is a quick & easy card that I featured at a workshop a while back.

The Swallowtail image is so pretty and detailed that even a quick card like this looks like it was more complicated than it is. While this first card is perfect just like it is, if you wanted to spend a little more time you can easily create something like this step it up version.

All I did here was mask the image and sponge on some color. I also changed the color of ribbon and added a bow. Now this butterfly really makes an impact, don't you think? You cannot really tell from the photo but both of the butterfly panels are spritzed with homemade shimmer spray. Here's a closer look.

Here's a side by side comparison.

Thanks for visiting today!

Primrose Bouquet

This pretty bouquet image is from the Best of Flowers set. It originally appeared in the set Gentler Times. The Best of Flowers set was the "Best Of" set for the month of March, but it will be available until next March, 2014. To see all of the "Best Of" sets click here.

I paired the Primrose Petals card stock and a pretty floral DSP from the Print Poetry Stack to get my color combo of Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla. I love how this image fits inside the embossed Designer Frame.

Stamps:  Best of Flowers
Card stock: Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla,  Print Poetry DSP
Ink: Black Stazon & various Classic Ink for water coloring
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Designer Frames & Fancy Fan Embossing Folders, Extra Large Oval Punch & Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon

Thanks for visiting today!

Eleanor's Secret Garden

Here is a card we did at one of my recent card classes.

The flower from Secret Garden was embossed in Early Espresso EP on Pink Pirouette and then water colored with Aqua Painter and Cherry Cobbler ink.

Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, Secret Garden & Blooming With Kindness
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & Pink Pirouette
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler & Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Early Espresso Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Secret Garden Framlits, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Here's the same card...different color combo.

Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy & Crumb Cake. With Baja & NQN retiring, I will miss using that color combo so much!

Thanks for visiting today. Have a nice weekend!

New Wood Mount Cases

How cool is this!? New cases for our wood mount stamps will match the Clear Mount boxes! Looks like they will have the printed labels as well! No more making copies of the label sheets before assembling stamps. It makes storing stamps, markers, etc...so much more simple (and pretty!) Check out the video...you even get a sneak peek of a new set.

Best of Flowers - Wiped Daisies

I always loved the Upsy Daisy stamp set, but for some reason I never purchased it?! Yes, I'm probably the only one who didn't? So when I saw the Upsy Daisy image in the Best of Flowers set I just had to get it! Here is the first card I created using this image.

I used the Wet Wipe Technique to ink the stamp. It had been a long time since I'd used this fun technique and I thought this solid image would be perfect for it. The Wet Wipe Technique is basically making your own ink pad using a folded wet wipe (or baby wipe...whatever you want to call them) and re-inkers. I folded the wet wipe into about a 3 inch square and then used Certainly Celery, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder & Rose Red re-inkers on mine.

I like how it fits inside the Basic Label stamp. This is one of the Single Stamp Images that are available for a limited time. I had to stamp the image twice (masking the edge the second time) to fill the entire window. It also seems I can't stop using the Needle Point Border Embossing Folder. I just love the cute added touch it gives to my projects!

Here is another idea using the same image, but this time I used the Designer Frame Embossing Folder.

If you are not familiar with Stampin' Up!'s "Best of Sets" here is the link to see all of the Best of Sets released so far. They will release one set each month during 2013 in honor of their 25th Anniversary. The Best of Flowers set was the March set, but it will be available until March of 2014...along with the other eleven sets. This months set is the Best of Butterflies.

Farewell Colored Swallowtail

As you have probably already heard, Stampin' Up! is doing another color refresh. While it's always fun to have new colors to play with, the down side is saying goodbye to some colors we already love. In my case, I will miss Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose & More Mustard the most. I decided to create a card in honor of my favorite departing colors...minus the Mustard because it just wouldn't have looked too good with the other four colors.

You cannot see so much from the photo but the main panel just shimmers when the light hits it. After stamping the butterfly & background I spritzed it with my homemade shimmer mist. To make this all you have to do is combine 70% alcohol & several drops of Frost White Shimmer Paint in a Stampin' Spritzer.

Stamps: Swallowtail, En Francais, Creative Elements & Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Certainly Celery & Not Quite Navy
Card stock: Certainly Celery, Not Quite Navy, Regal Rose & Baja Breeze
Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Stampin' Spritzer, Needle Point Border Embossing Folder, Modern label Punch & Word Window Punch

Today is the last day to take advantage of the FREE shipping promo, so I'd recommend stocking up on your favorite colors before they are no longer available. I know that several different colors of the re-inkers have already sold out...so place your order soon!

What colors will you miss the most?

Helpful Tips for Water-coloring With Re-inkers

It seems that whenever I post a creation that shows water-coloring I get nice comments (thank you for that!)  and a lot of questions asking how to achieve good results, what supplies am I using, etc... While I was busy water-coloring a set of cards last week using Secret Garden & Summer Afternoon I decided to take some step by step photos to show how I color my images.

For me I find it easiest to use my Aqua Painter and Classic Ink. I like to squeeze a little re-inker in the lid of my ink pad or simply squeeze the ink pad to leave extra ink on the lid and I pick up the color with my brush and away I go. I use Stazon Ink to get a nice crisp image that will not bleed. While water color paper is certainly a good option, I tend to mostly just use Whisper White or Very Vanilla card stock.

Here's my image stamped in Black Stazon on Whisper White. Make sure to have paper towel handy to blot any excess water that may flow through the Aqua painter. For this reason I have found it best to only fill the barrel about half full. Don't squeeze because you don't need a lot of water.

I pick up some ink with my brush and start painting where I want the darkest parts to be. In the case of this flower the insides of the petals at the edges where the petals meet and where a petal might have a slight fold or bend, would be the darkest areas.

Make sure to leave some light, white areas as you are coloring. Allow the colors to blend and fade before reloading your brush with more color. You can always add more color...but once it's there you cannot take it away. When you re-load your brush with color add it to the areas you want darkest, or blot off excess color onto scrap if you are done with the darkest areas.

I went back and darkened up petals in above photo and was ready to add some contrasting color. I started with the center, as I wanted that the darkest.

See how the bottom part of the center is a little darker and I worked my way up to the top center as the color started to fade? This makes it appear to have a highlight on the center. I decided to add the Rich Razzleberry color I used here to the petals as well.

This tied in with the color scheme of my finished card. I could have also used a darker blue at this time or any other contrasting color to get a totally different look. Here is the flower on my finished card.

My top 3 tips:

• Don't use too much water...otherwise colors will get too light and paper can become pilled/over worked.
• Make sure to leave very light, even white areas for highlights
• Practice! The more you practice the better you will become! 

Hope this helps!

Color Refresh & FREE Shipping!

That's right! Two big announcements from Stampin' Up! this morning.

First...FREE SHIPPING!!! on all orders placed on April 6th - 8th.

Also...there's going to be a shake up within our existing four Color Families. That means saying goodbye to some of our favorites and welcoming some new colors to take their place.

I'm saddest to see Baja Breeze & Not Quite Navy go. I used those two colors often. Also sad about More Mustard which I use a lot in the fall. Certainly Celery has always been a favorite, but Pear Pizzazz is a good replacement for that one...I used to get them mixed up all the time when Pear Pizzazz was an In Color. You'll notice that quite a few existing and past In Colors will be brought into our four Color Families. I am so happy that we get to keep Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder...I LOVE those!

Make sure to place your order soon for all the color items that will be discontinued...they are available only while supplies last!

See more on the 2013 Color Refresh in this video.

Workspace Wednesday - Fabric Covered Box Tutorial

I'm always on the lookout for pretty storage containers to help keep my work space organized. I have a few sets of retired Sizzix Alphabet Dies from Stampin' Up! that I have always just kept in the corrugated cardboard boxes they came in...while on the lookout for a prettier storage solution. I never found any that were the right size, and I've had some Stampin' Up! fabric sitting her unused...so I decided to make my own pretty storage boxes by covering them in fabric.

Here's the first one I made. I had to use non SU! fabric, because the SU! fabric was not big enough to wrap all the way around the box. It turned out pretty good, but I made a few mistakes along the way. I'm sure you'll agree that it looks WAY better than it did!  This one holds 16 Bigz Dies.

After the trial and errors of my first fabric covered box I decided to give it another shot and take some photos along the way in case you would like to give it a try. The second box I covered using Stampin' Up! Springtime Vintage Fabric. The finished box holds 8 Bigz Dies.

These are the supplies you'll need:

First, cut the flaps off the top of your box with a heavy pair of scissors...I used my Craft & Rubber Scissors, but you could also use a box cutter. Just be sure to cut a nice smooth, straight edge for the top of your box. At this time I also measured, and then used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes into the front of the box. This is where you will set the large eyelets after the box is covered with fabric.

Next, cut down your ironed piece of fabric with fabric shears. You will want it long enough so that it wraps around the entire box with about a 1/2" overlap at seam and is wide enough to fold inside and under the box. I used Sizzix Multi-Purpose Adhesive Sheets to adhere my fabric, so I also cut those with my paper trimmer so that they fit the sides of the box.

Next, you will want to adhere the strips of adhesive to the sides of the box. Use your bone folder to burnish it in place so that it adheres well to the cardboard. Note: When making my first box I applied the adhesive strips directly to the fabric and it was a  LOT harder!

After you get the adhesive burnished to all surfaces of the box that will be covered with fabric, peal off one section at a time (starting with the outside of box) and start wrapping the fabric around the box. I had the best luck starting this process by laying the box on it's side right on top of the fabric. If you mess up, don't worry, you can always gently pull the fabric off and start again. Carefully smooth out any bubbles or creases in the fabric. Pull off adhesive covering as you go until the whole outside of the box is covered.

At the back of the box there will be about 1/2" where the fabric overlaps. I used a small bead of Tombo Multi-Adhesive along this seam. Next, fold down the fabric inside of the box. Note: With this step, I had a hard time not leaving any creases in the fabric around the corners, but I planned to line my box with card stock to finish it, so I wasn't too concerned.

The bottom was easy...just like wrapping a present. I used my bone folder to help with adhering the fabric & keeping it smooth all around the box.

Next, I used my piercing tool to poke through the fabric where the holes in the box were so that I could easily insert the large eyelets. After I got them in place, I set them with my Crop-a-Dile. Then I added some ribbon that would become handles. After I got the ribbon handles in place, I used my hot glue gun to secure them to the inside front of the box as shown below.

To prevent my fabric from fraying and possibly coming away from side of box after using it for a while I thought it would be best to line the inside...plus it just looks nicer and finishes it off. To do this I just used some card stock which I measured and cut to fit. The bottom was a little tricky because I scored it about 1/2" on each side to form the base. That was adhered to the bottom using Tombo Multi-Adhesive. Then I fit it the front & back pieces which I also scored 1" on each end and then the 2 side pieces which were not scored at all. I used a generous amount of the Tombo and it worked out real well.

Don't forget to cover your bottom!

Here's how the boxes fit inside my cabinet...looks a lot nicer than the plain old cardboard boxes! Since they are inside a cabinet, I don't need to worry about a lid to keep out dust. I like how they are easy to grab out & put away when I'm done. With the alphabet dies in particular I find it easier to be able to take out the whole box when I'm working...because you are almost always going to need several of the dies to create the words you need.

Since we are on the subject of Sizzix Die storage, I figured I may as well show you how I store the rest of my dies. They fit perfectly in the 4 drawer Jetmax Craft storage cubes. I can fit 18 Bigz dies per drawer.

Hope this post inspires you to put some of the fabric you may have sitting around to good use. I don't sew, so for me the only way I use fabric is in some sort of crafty type project where I can use glue!

Serene Spring Birthday Bunny

My Aunt's birthday fell during the Easter weekend this year so I made her a card that would cover both holidays.

I love this adorable little bunny image from the retired Hostess set Serene Spring. I used the same layout and products as I used here  on this Summer Afternoon card,  but I changed the colors & of course the stamp set.

I loved the color combo of Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party & Calypso Coral for a pretty Spring birthday card so much, that I created another one using Summer Afternoon.

Both cards also use En Francais, Tulip Frame EF and one of the new Needlepoint Border Embossing Folders. The greeting is from the Itty Bitty Banner set and cut with the coordinating Bitty Banner Framelits.

I have received a lot of nice comments and some questions regarding water coloring since I posted the Summer Afternoon trio of cards last week. I am working on a photo tutorial about water coloring I hope to have ready by the end of the week...so check back if you are interested.