April Stamp-a-Stack

Good evening!  What a great weekend.  We had a fun class Saturday morning and we got to make the perfect gifts for mother's day (I'm so excited that all four of my gifts are complete and ready to go).  We also went to the movies and went to see "Hop," what a cute and funny movie (Aidan talked about it all evening long he was so excited).  I was also able to complete all the samples for this months stamp-a-stack which will be next Sunday at 2:00 PM.  Check out the samples below, you'll love these great cards.

This is the last month to purchase any items from the Occasions Mini catolog so make sure to order any items that are on your wish list.  Also, this month you have the opportunity to purchase a new stamp set and designer paper that won't come out until July when the new Idea Book and Catalog is released so we'll be trying them out this month.

I hope you can make it on Sunday, make sure to contact me soon to reserve your spot.

Have a great week and happy stamping!

Diana

Sneak Peak - Four Frames

Today I'm very excited to share a sneak peak at a new stamp set and designer paper that will be in the new Idea Book and Catalog starting in July. This is the new Four Frames stamp set and Paisley Petals DSP. In addition to these new items, this card also uses the Cherry Cobler Seam Binding Ribbon, Antique Brads, Decorative Label Punch, and Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Starting Friday, and throughout the rest of April you to can get your hands on these great new items. There are two ways to get them:

* Place an order of $20 or more and you can purchase the stamp set and DSP, or

* Host a workshop totalling $350 or more and you can get both the stamp set and designer paper for FREE!

Enjoy!

Birthday Wishes - Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

What an eventful weekend!  Some stamping friends came over Friday night for open stamping and then I went to the Nothern Virginia Demo shoebox swap Saturday morning and not only made some beautiful cards but met some great new demonstrators in the area.  Then we spent the rest of the weekend with the family on early birthday celebrations since I'll be traveling for work this week.  I was also able to spend some time in the studio and made this beautiful card for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge. 

This card definately has a vintage feel, which I've been really trying to work on lately.  The card is pretty straight forward so I'll just highlight some of the highlights.  The background is Pear Pizzaz cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folder.  Then I sponged the paper with Pear Pizzaz ink to help make the image pop (we did this at the shoebox swap yesterday and I loved the added dimension).  Then I used the Eyelet border punch on the Not Quite Navy cardstock as a mat for the Springtime Vintage DSP.  The greeting is from the Occasional Quotes Hostess Stamp Set and it punched out with the Decorative Label Punch.  The ribbon is the fabulous Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon and I added three Metallic brads in the top right corner. 

I love how beautiful this card turned out!

Have a great week and happy stamping,

Diana

Thankful Butterflies - Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Good evening.  This is definately my favorite time of year, I love the warm weather and all the trees and flowers starting to bloom.  Since spring is all around us it's only fitting that it's the inspiration for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge.  I was initially thrown by this sketch but then I figured it was a great opportunity to showcase multiple prints from the Greenhouse Gala DSP, which has quickly become one of my favorite paper packs. 

There's nothing overly challenging about this card so I figured I would just highlight some of the key items:  I used the Vintage Wallpaper Texture Embossing Folder for the background, 5/8" Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon, Beautiful Butterflies Embosslet die for the butterfly cutouts, basic rhinestones for accents on the butterflies, and the Perfect Punches stamp set for the greeting.

Here's the sketch, pretty cool!  I love how bright and cheery this card is, it definately screams spring!

Just a reminder that Friday is PMS (Pizza, Movies, Stamps) night starting at 7:30.  Please let me know know if you'll be joining us, it's sure to be a lot of fun!

Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Diana

Cheers to You, with Green Beer!

This week’s card for the Stamping 411 sketch challenge was definitely influenced by all our recent St. Patrick’s Day festivities. While I don’t mail cards to everyone for all holidays I do like to give my son and husband a little something to let them know I love them. I’ve been meaning to make my husband’s card and knew when I saw the challenge that I could cross off two things on my list as once. I used the Cheers to You stamp set to make green beer (perfect for St. Patty’s day) as the main images and used a Blender Pen and Garden Green ink to color in the beer. To make the frothy foam I actually shaved Whisper White Cardstock with my scissors to basically create “fuzzies” that I attached to the card with crystal effects, (you can only image what my studio and clothes looked like after 20 minutes of paper shaving) but I really like the end result.

The white piece of paper in the back was stamped with Wild Wasabi and Garden Green ink and the Got Treats stamp set before running it through the Big Shot with the Lattice die. The rest of the card is pretty straight forward, the ribbon is Certainly Celery Taffeta and the greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (the best greeting set ever!)

Now check out the sketch we were provided. Not the most elegant card but Chris is going to love it and it’s perfect for this holiday.

Before I sign off I wanted to share a picture from this weekend that helped get me in the mood, Aidan and I along with some neighbors attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Old Town Manassas on Saturday.

Aidan and I love to get all dressed up so this is before we left for the parade. It was pretty cold but we still had a good time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy stamping,

Diana

Cupcakes are for Birthdays

Happy Friday!

Today I wanted to share a fun project that is sure to brighten up anyone's birthday.  This card uses the Create a Cupcake stamp set and matching Build a Cupcake punch.  The colors for the card come straight from the Ice Cream Parlor DSP and ribbon (both you can get for free the rest of the month during Sale-a-bration) who doesn't love free stuff?  This is a pretty straight forward card, so I won't bore you with all the details, needless to say it was fun and simple to make.

Who doesn't love cupcakes on their birthday?

Have a great day,

Diana

March Stamp-a-Stack

Just wanted to drop a quick note to show you three of the projects that we'll be making at this months stamp-a-stack (I'm waiting for an order to arrive later this week with paper for the last card).  These are so much fun and you'll absolutely love this great new technique that uses a white crayon (the original card idea is from the super talented Selene Kempton).

SAS will be this Sunday, March 13 at 2:00 PM.  We'll be making 8 cards (2 each of 4 designs) for $15.  There are still a couple of spots so RSVP soon to reserve your spot.

Have a great week and hope to see you Sunday!

Diana

Sketch Challenge - Birthday Bakery

What a great weekend!  We finally had a weekend where were didn't have several commitments, we were actually able to just relax and enjoy.  This also means that I was able to get some quality, dedicated time in the craft studio (whoo hoo!).  The very first project was a card for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge.  This was an unusual challenge in that I don't normally make square cards, but it ended up being a lot of fun. 

The main focal image is from the Birthday Bakery stamp set (what a fun set you can get for free by hosting a workshop!)  that was colored in with Stampin' Write markers.  I added a piece of Pretty in Pink DSP and Pear Pizazz cardstock that was punched with the scallop edge punch.  The greeting was stamped with Early Espresso ink on the DSP.  The next layer is a piece of Whisper White Cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Polka Dot Embossing Folder before matting it on Early Espresso cardstock.  I wrapped a piece of Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon and Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta ribbon around this layer of cardstock.  The bow is made with the same Early Espresso ribbon and a silver brad (which match the 3 silver brads in the top left corner of the cardstock.  The last step was attaching all these layers onto a piece of pretty pink carstock which was cut at 5 1/4" x 11" and folded in half to make the square cardbase.

Now check our this weeks sketch sample.  A fresh and fun card that I decided to send to my mom for her birthday this week (love you mom!).

Hope you enjoyed this project and have a great week!

Happy stamping,

Diana

Birthday Wishes - Game Style

Today I wanted to share the birthday card I made for my little one’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. Aidan loves to get cards and is really appreciative when someone makes him a card or colors him a picture. I decided to use the Take a Spin stamp set and new game spinner hands to make a fun card. I started with a base of Wild Wasabi cardstock. I used a piece of Celebrations DSP and attached it to Real Red Cardstock and wrapped a piece of Bashful Blue ¼” Grosgrain ribbon (retired) on the seam.

The main image was stamped with Pacific Point ink on Whisper White cardstock. Then I used my Stampin’ Write markers to color in the various images on the stamp (birthday cake, package, candles, etc.). I used my 1/16” handheld punch to punch a hole in the middle for the game spinner hand. Instead of using the standard brad that came with the spinners I used a Real Red brad. Once completed I matted the image to a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock before attaching to the card.

Very easy and Aidan loved it! (we actually made a similar version of this card during last months stamp-a-stack). This is such a fun stamp set and I can see several other great ideas, including reward ribbons, etc.

Have a great day!

Diana

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all are having a fabulous start to your valentine's day. I love the idea of showing all the special people in our lives we love them but I do believe this should not be restricted to just one designated day a year. We have had fun celebrating all weekend and went to a great dinner on Saturday and Chris gave me some beautiful flowers that I've been able to enjoy all weekend (thanks babe!).
Anyways I love making special cards for everyone but it's a special challenge for Chris since I really try to not make it too feminine, I made several candidates but I thought I would share the card that made the final cut.

I used Basic Black, Basic Grey, and Real Red. The background was created with the new letterpress plates and I tried using them with VersaMark instead of regular ink and love how easy it was and turned out perfect. Then a cut a scalloped heart out of grey cardstock with the lots of hearts embosslet , to mat the paisley heart (that was from the Paisley Prints stamp set) that was punched out with the large heart punch. The greeting is from the Be My Valentine stamp set and I stamped it on Whisper White cardstock and cut it out with Paper Snips so it would pop. The final touch was Black satin ribbon and I tied this great bow that looks kind of like a bow tie and used a Clear Crystal Circle brad for the center.
I really think he's going to love it.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Diana

February Stamp-a-Stack

Good morning,

With all the craziness of the week I haven't had a chance to post the projects for this month's stamp-a-stack until this morning.  This is going to be a great class where we use some of the new items from the Occassions Mini and Sale-a-bration catalogs.  We'll also learn and great fun and easy technique that you'll love.

Have a great weekend.  Can't wait to see you Sunday!

Diana

Valentines, Filled with Love

Good morning! Today I want to share 2 quick and easy valentine projects. The first is a card I made for Aidan (my almost 6 year old) who loves all holidays and especially enjoys getting handmade cards (definitely a kid after his mommy’s heart). It uses the Filled with Love stamp set and is a Joy fold card. These are fun since they have the layers that open up and the stampers loved this when we used the same technique a class awhile back. It also uses the Red glimmer paper, Love Impressions DSP, Real Red DSP, and small heart punch.


Take a look here’s a peak at what the card looks like from the side with the folds.



The second project is a super simple tin. I wrapped two different patterns of Love Impressions DSP around the outside of the tin and then tied a piece of Blushing Bride Poly-stitch ribbon. Then I used one of the Love Impressions Rub-ons on the clear window on the top of the tin. These rub-ons are super simple and so cute! The final touch was filling the tin with Hugs and Kisses candy (what is a valentine gift without chocolate).

I hope these projects have given you some ideas for your own projects!
Enjoy,
Diana

Sweetheart Valentine

I have been a bad little blogger. Construction was completed on my new stamp studio last weekend (whoo hoo!) so I’ve had the arduous task of moving into the new space. I must tell you it’s always eye opening to see what you really have when you have top pick up each and every item and move it down 2 flights of stairs. While I’m still not fully settled I have the majority of the stamp items settled so I knew it was time to “break in” the studio, boy did I have a lot of fun. One of the projects was for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge. With Valentine’s Day only a week away it’s only fitting that this weeks card takes advantage of our “sweet” holiday.

I started with a card base of Regal Rose and added a piece of whisper white cardstock that I had run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder. Then I added a piece of Real Red 1/8” taffeta ribbon and bow. The greeting is from A Perfect Heart stamp set and is stamped with Real Red Ink on Regal Rose cardstock before being punched out with the Modern Label Punch. The main image uses the Sweetheart stamp set and used Real Red to ink the heart and Garden Green for the flower leaves. To really add some bling I used the large Heart Punch to punch a heart out of the Red Glimmer Paper for the center. This is matted on a piece of Real Red Cardstock.

That’s about it, now check out the sketch we were provided. Pretty perfect and certain to brighten up anyone’s day.

Stay tuned for more valentine’s projects, sure to please!

Happy stamping,

Diana

Thanks for Caring!

Good evening!  It seems like all my stamping lately has been for valentine's day and I decided that for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge I would use a completely different sentiment.  After looking through all the fabulous new stamps sets in the Occasions Mini Catalog I decided to use the Thanks for Caring stamp set. 

I started with a cardbase of Crumb cake and then layered a piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock and Blueberry Crisp DSP.  The main greeting is stamped with Pacific Point ink and then sponged around the edges with Not Quite Navy before matting it on a piece of Pacific Point cardstock.  Then I stamped the flower and butterfly image with Not Quite Navy ink and then using a blender pen to color the images in with Pacific Point ink.  Then I cut out each of the images with paper snips before mounting them to the card with dimensionals.  The final touch is a piece of Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon tied in a bow.

Thankfully I do not have to make too many sympathy cards but I love how this turned out and this design could easily be turned into a birthday (or other greeting) by just changing the words in the middle.  Now check out the sketch provided.

As you may know, Stampin' Up's biggest sale of the year, Sale-a-bration, starts today and you could purchase all the items to recreate this card and earn a free stamp set.  Between now and March 31, 2011 you can earn a free item from the Sale-a-bration catalog for every $50 purchased.  You can earn even more by hosting a workshop so please contact me now to reserve your personalized party date!

Have a great evening!

Diana

Friends and Chocolate

This seems like the week that will never end, and it's only Wednesday.  I'm just hoping the next couple days move along.  It seems like we've been so busy with family activites that I haven't had much time for stamping and was telling Chris tonight that I was starting to miss it.  When I saw this weeks Stamping 411 challenge, I knew exactly what stamp set I would use.  Before I even saw the images in the new Eat Chocolate stamp set I new I had to love it, especially since I do believe chocolate should be it's own food group.


I started this card with a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the chocolate bar image with both Early Espresso and Pretty in Pink classic ink.   Then I used a Stamping Sponge to sponge Pretty in Pink ink along the edges.  Next I took a piece of Pretty in Pink designer paper and tore it along the edge.  Both of these pieces were then adhered to a piece of Early Espresso cardstock that is the cardbase.  

I took the main image and stamped it twice, once in Early Espresso and again in Pretty in Pink.  The early Espresso image was punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch and then matted it on a piece of Early Espresso cardstock punched out with the 2 3/8" scallop circle punch.   For the pink image I cut out the chocolate candy with Paper Snips and attached it to the card with a dimensional.  I applied crystal effects all over the pink candy so that it really "popped."  The last addition was a Pretty in Pink button with a piece of 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon threaded through the holes and then knotted (I swear it took just as long to thread the ribbon through the button as it did to make the entire card, very tiny holes.)

Now let's see what the sketch looked like, not bad.  This card turned out so well that I just want to eat it and the sentiment is perfect!  Enjoy and have a great week!


Diana

Filled with Love and Perfect for Valentine's Day

Just a quick note to remind you about the great Filled with Love promotion:  From now until January 24, 2011, receive a FREE package of Bitty Buttons (a $4.95 value) when you purchase the Stampin' Up! Filled with Love Bundle.

The Filled with Love Bundle contains the Filled with Love Stamp Set (in wood-mount or clear-mount) and the exclusive Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack.   The Bitty Buttons are a great addition to the bundle and make such cute embellishments for all your projects.  To order the Filled With Love Valentine's Bundle or any other products, please visit my online store HERE.

Kid's Valentine Class -- Don't Miss Out!

Be My Beary Valentine

What a great weekend!  We've had a great time spending time with friends this weekend and today was capped off with stamp-a-stack and we had a great bunch of ladies.  This was our first opportunity using the new letterpress plates and they were quite a hit (thanks ladies)!

I finally feel like I'm getting back into the  regular routine after the holidays which means I was finally able to participate in another Stamping 411 challenge.  I really liked the wide open space for this week's challenge which gave me plenty of space for a perfectly beary valentine.  I started with the little girl bear from the Beary Best Friends stamp set.  I stamped the image twice, once on Whisper White, and again on Pretty in Pink DSP (for the dress).  I cut out both the bear and the dress with paper snips before coloring the rest of the bear in with Stampin' Write Markers. 

Next I used some Pear Pizzaz ink and a Stamping Sponge to great some "grass" on the bottom of the main Whisper White piece of cardstock.  I used a piece of Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon around the paper and then attached a bow I created with the ribbon and a crystal circle brad.  I used the small heart punch, large heart punch, and heart to heart punches to punch out lots of heats from DSP as well as the new Red Glimmer paper (fabulous!) to use as ballons.  After gluing all the hearts in place I created balloon strings with a Basic Black marker.  The greeting is from the Filled with Love stamp set and is stamped in Pear Pizzaz. 

The entire image is mounted on a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock before adding the Pear Pizzaz card base. Now, check out the sketch layout below.

I really like how sweet this card turned out!  Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Happy stamping,

Diana

It's Finally Arrived!!!

With the holidays over I've been so excited so share all the great new productions in the 2011 Occasions Mini catalog.  Thankfully the wait is over and the catalog was officially released on Tuesday.  There are so many great items, include chocolate themed stamp sets (my favorite food group), red glitter paper (perfect for valentine hearts), and a new build a cupcake punch and matching stamp set (love it).  Check out the catalog here, you'll definately love it.

Also just a reminder that Sale-a-bration starts on January 25 so you'll be able to earn free items while stocking up on all the great new items!

There's still time to RSVP for Stamp-a-Stack on Sunday so let me know if you want to join in the fun!

Thanks,

Diana

January Stamp-a-Stack

Just wanted to give you a quick preview of the cards for this months stamp-a-stack which will be this Sunday at 2:00 PM.  We'll be using some great new items from the Occasions Mini catalog that will be officially released tomorrow.  We'll even be trying out the new letterpress plates for the Big Shot so you won't want to miss this opportunity to try them yourself.  There's still time to RSVP, so just let me know by Friday to reserve your spot.

Also, just a quick reminder that today is the last day to purchase items from the Holiday Mini catalog.  If there is anything you want to pick up before they are gone please either contact me or order online from my store. 

Have a great week!

Diana