February Club Projects - Part I using My Digital Studio as a Design Tool

One of the things that sold me on My Digital Studio (among other things) was the ability to "play" with design ideas without wasting paper.  Before MDS I would use old "In Color" card stock or non-Stampin' Up! cardstock (my upline calls it "contraband" LOL!) to plan out prototypes.  However, sometimes I just want to see how different Stampin' Up! colors work with each other along with different design elements that I'm thinking of.  I'm like a lot of my fellow blogger/stampers out there in that I don't make things up totally from scratch all the time - sometimes I shamelessly C.A.S.E. (Copy And Steal Everything) a project from start to finish, sometimes I take the basic color scheme and adapt using what I happen to already have (see previous post!) but sometimes I'm borrowing elements from several places or just mulling different things around in my head and want to see how they look using current colors and products.  MDS is a great way to do this without using up precious cardstock and supplies.

For the first of my February Club projects (check back tomorrow and the day after for the other two), I wanted to feature not only Vintage Vogue (117690 wood, 118598 clear) which is hands-down my Favorite Stamp Set from the Occasions Mini 2010, but the coordinating Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel (117693).  So I got onto Stampin' Up!'s new totally cool "Stampin' Connection" which is a cool website - part Facebook, part Splitcoast (available to anyone who is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator) and searched on both Vintage Vogue and Very Vintage.  I found some cool ideas, but I knew there were some other things I wanted to do.  So......... I hopped onto to MDS and started playing.

Now MDS doesn't have every single stamp set, although they come up with new downloads very frequently to incorporate new products, but they don't have Vintage Vogue yet.  I don't think they have any of the wheels yet either (hmmm, something to suggest to Demonstrator Support)... ANYWAY - I found another set called "Simple Friendship" (113397) that had a similar feel and would act as my "stand-in".  And I came up with this:

I knew in addition to wanting to use Vintage Vogue and Very Vintage, I had the new Pretty In Pink 5/8" Satin Ribbon (117289) I wanted to coordinate somehow, so that steered my color choices a bit.  On Page 27 of the Occasions Mini I saw that they were using Old Olive, which I thought was nice, and I also thought Rich Razzleberry (2009-2010 In Color) would be good, so that was what got me going.  Here's what I came up with:

After playing with some of the elements, I decided not to tie the ribbon in a bow - the floral embellishment was enough "fancy" and the ribbon is mostly there for texture.  But the basic design is the same, and as you can see, no cardstock was wasted in the construction of this card!

So, this is how you can use MDS to help you design a project without wasting anything but your time!  And time spent designing is NOT time wasted is it!

Valentine-Themed Cards!

The Valentine cards I made for my family this year were inspired by a very experienced and talented blogger Andrea Walford from Canada who shares her blog with her also very talented sister Sophia.  Andrea posted this card project and I thought I'd try it!

Except that, I didn't have "A Happy Heart" stamp set, and I didn't have Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon, and I don't have "Warm Words" stamp set, and I didn't have "Shades of Spring DSP".  But, I did have "I {Heart} Hearts" (117010 wood, 118571 clear), and "Well Scripted" (117072 wood, 118601 clear), and I did have Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon (109065), and "Sending Love" DSP (117153).  So here's what I did instead!

This one is for daughter #1: 

 

This one is for daughter #2:

 

And this one is for my #1 SWEETIE!

 

And then, there's this one friend & neighbor that for two years in a row has spent a good deal of time and brain power figuring out very complex Carpool schedules for up to four families picking up their daughters from the Junior High Musical Rehearsals (not everyone has the same schedule either based on what parts they get) so I figured she needed a cute "Thank You" card for all she has done...

As I was working through which heart would be a good replacement for the one Andrea was using, I tried a few different ones from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, and in the end, I decided to use one of each for each card!  Cool, eh?  And I had already decided to add some Chocolate Chip buttons for my hubby's card to make it less "girly" so it made sense to go with Chocolate Chip ink on the sentiment for all of them as well.   On the last card for my friend Carla, I actually borrowed from a button set from last year that had Pink Pirouette buttons - I think they worked just fine!

So anyway, I'm set for Valentine's Day - hope you like my variations - and thanks Andrea for the great inspiration!

Cheers,

Peg

Women's Retreat Notepad

This is the third year that I have had the privilege to serve on the committee for my church's Women's Retreat.  Naturally I've been a part of helping with the "crafts" aspect - making decorations for the tables, making little tzotchke's (did I spell that right?  you know, the little odds and ends), decorating the notepads and folders that are given to each attendee, and a couple of years, helping to design and/or run a card-making mission project.  Another talented lady on the committee is also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and usually most of what we made came from her very creative and experienced mind - the rest of us just did the busy work putting it all together - but this year I volunteered to design and make the notepad cover. 

Our theme this year is "Spring Clean-Up for Your Heart And Soul".  My first attempt was rejected - too many butterflies and not enough heart!  Plus, we changed the saying that was to go on the front:

So I tried again, using basically the same color scheme, but adding the bird from the Movers & Shapers die accessories "Holiday Shapes" and adding more hearts:

So what do you think?  I liked the fact that I was able to incorporate the Big Shot into both versions, and the birds/hearts stamp from The More The Merrier Hostess Set.  You'll note that much of what I'm using is retired, especially the Spring Flowers DSP, which I have a bunch of (back when they first started to offer double-sided decorative paper).  So this will keep the costs down for the committee - always a good thing!

I'd love comments on which one you like better - this will be a good test to see if anyone is even looking at my blog :-)!!  Thanks - have a great day!

Haitian Disaster Relief

From now until February 28, 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set that is purchased from the Occasions Mini Catalog will be donated American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

Product Name	Item #	Price
I {Heart} Hearts – clear-mount (block D recommended)	118571	$18.95
I {Heart} Hearts – wood-mount	117010	$26.95

    So if you were thinking of buying this stamp set, now you have two good reasons to get it!  Click on the Stampin' Up! logo to the right of this post to order it online through my website, or contact me directly.  Thanks!

Stamp Club's Skinny Tins!

This weekend was my monthly Stamp Club Workshop.  I had 10 ladies come (5 on each day) and I gave them the Silver Skinny Tin (Clearance Rack 108333 $0.99) and 4 Mini Square Envelopes (2009-2010 IB&C 107309 $7.50 for 40) - using the Sale-A-Bration set Good Neighbors (118378 wood,119116 clear), the Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper Pad Welcome Neighbor (118401), coordinating ink pads, ribbon, brads, punches, and adhesives of various types and said "go for it"! 

 What a mess!  I forgot to take pictures during the worst of it, but when 4 to 5 women are all working on this kind of a project at the same time, it gets pretty crazy!  The funniest part of the workshop was how quiet everyone was in the beginning when they started to plan their creations!  I heard at least one person on each day talk about "being in the zone!"  Yeah!  So I think the endorphins kicked in, even before the wine came out (red on Saturday, white on Sunday, thanks to two generous donations from club members). 

I did take pictures of most people's creations, and I love them all.  There were the usual comments about not being creative, being very simple, etc. etc.  Yes, but YOU MADE IT YOURSELF!  It doesn't have to be original or fancy to be hand-made and something to be proud of!  The cool thing was, with this paper pad, there were so many variations on similar designs, so many different designs, and they were a good way to decorate the little mini-gift cards without having to do a lot of stamping.  I'm planning on digging through everyone else's scraps and making a bunch more of these little cards to have on hand for all sorts of occasions.

It was interesting to see the reactions to working with the new Clear Mount stamps, which is how I ordered the Good Neighbors set.  I thought Clear Mount would be a good choice for this set because of all the little houses and roofs that could be matched up much more easily with the Clear Blocks.  I sold quite a few Clear Blocks on my order this month for people, as well as Clear Mount stamp sets.  One or two said they will never give up wood, and one or two said it was about time!  The main complaint was cleaning smaller stamps that are clear mounted as they fall off the block easily.  Still, we have this problem with wood blocks that have very little "real estate", so I just told them to be gentle and not worry about it!

The new style Scallop Trim Border punch (11842) and the Small Heart punch (Occasions Mini 117193, $5.95) were also well-received, and there are several Scallop Trim Border SAB punches being ordered too!  We had a great time, and everyone even  helped me clean up and organize the scraps when they were done!

So anyway, here are the projects from the weekend:
SHEILA: I love the way she took a 2-1/2x2-1/2 square and made this medallion with the new Scallop Trim Border Punch and the Scallop Oval punch!

KATE: Popping up the clouds and roofs!

LISA K: The non-traditional Crushed Curry and Bermuda Bay colors in her "friend" card (lower left) are so cool!  I love it!

JAMIE: The first one who took a "Valentine" approach to the project, she also did some very creative things with the "negative" of the Heart to Heart punch as well as some detailed cutting on the hearts!

DEBBIE: This shows how easy it it is to combine the paper with cutouts "popped up" from the stamp set!

KARA: I love how she meticulously trimmed the houses and trees from one of the paper pad pieces (lower left card).  Once she got it cut out she said "now what do I do with it?"  (LOL)  I think she figured out a really cool solution!

LISA W: The first one to work with the "big" house and tree images that don't necessarily fit the stamp set.  Very nice!

JULIE: These cards show off the really cool background patterns in the paper pack - great for accents and a little bit of subtle texture...

MARILYN:  Another Valentine themed tin - she even decorated the back seam covering it with a couple of "Modern Label" punched pieces!

New Year - New Calendar!

Some of you may remember the Calendar Kit that was offered in the Holiday Mini 2008 Catalog.  I purchased one and combined it with the Triple On Board Clipboard (Item #109192) based on an idea I got from Caroline LeBel last year to make this:

I loved this calendar!  I had sort of hoped that Stampin' Up! would provide replacement pages for it this year but no luck, although they did have a really cute Calendar Kit in this year's Holiday Mini.  So what to do?  I updated my own! 

I created my own mini-calendar pages in Word and printed them out, and then stamped them appropriately (I'm not so proud of how January came out, so ignore it - actually, I may re-do it later since I can - ha ha!) For my new "YEAR" page on the left, I took one of the previous Calendar Kit pages (they all were double-sided with a colored backside) and used it to make my new "YEAR" page!  Quite a bit of what is on this page is RETIRED (Headline Alphabet, Rub-Ons, paper color), just to give you fair warning, but there is one NEW thing - the new Sweet Pea Stitched Felt pieces (Item #117266 in the 2010 Occasions Mini).  I got the Felt pieces for FREE when I became certified in My Digital Studio!  More about that product some other time!  Anyway, these Felt pieces coordinate perfectly with a new Designer Series Paper Stack called "Sweet Pea" (Item #117161) in case you are interested...

So now I'm ready for the new year with my new calendar!  Let me know if you'd like me to send you the Word files for my new calendar pages...

Stay warm,
Peg

Simply Sent Kits

One of my favorite things to do is to take a kit and challenge myself to make unique cards for various occasions using the kit as a "jumping off" place.  Last year Patty Bennett showed how you could do this with a Simply Scrappin' Kit on her website, and today I'm going to show how I did it with a Simply Sent kit.

Simply Sent kits are the perfect solution for people who like to make cards but don't have or want to have a large inventory of paper, ink, and embellishments to choose from.  There are several kinds of kits, from ones that include the stamp sets to ones that don't but have stamp sets available to purchase separately.  The one I'm using is called "Petite Pansies" (Item 115704 in the Idea Book & Catalog, $42.95).

Now, some of you may be saying "I'm beyond a beginner, what would I need one of those for?"  Well, in a pinch, you have everything pre-cut for you (like when you go to a workshop or stamp camp) and the instructions are laid out for making some specific cards.  But then you can also incorporate your own supplies using the basics of this kit to jump-start your creativity!

I challenged myself to make cards using only three stamp sets, "Petite Pansies" which it came with, "Of The Earth" hostess stamp set, or "Vintage Vogue" (new in the Occasions Mini and available as a Clear-Mount stamp set!)  I also challenged myself to stick as close as possible to the basic colors that came with the kit, which were Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, and Close to Cocoa.

First, here are the cards I made using the exact instructions and supplies that came with the kit:

Oh and even though the kit doesn't say to do this, I ALWAYS stamp my envelopes!  Sometimes I repeat an image used inside the card, other times I use a coordinating image from elsewhere in the stamp set.

Next, I tried making variations of my own, but still using the same stamp set:

I don't know how well it is showing up, but for the Birthday Wishes card on the right, I ran the Perfect Plum piece through the "Perfect Polka Dots" impressions folder which is also new with the 2010 Occasions Mini.  I love the subtle texture it gives the card!  And I pulled out my Chocolate Chip marker so that I could stamp "Birthday Wishes" on two lines instead of just one.  Mixing the ribbons together is another fun thing to do, and a great way to use up tiny scraps.

The next three were made using "Of the Earth":

Now I've started pulling out my punches!  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE punches, and I never have a Stamp Club or Workshop without several.  The card on the left is using two of my favorites - Modern Label (for the label of course) which was new in the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog, and the ALL NEW Scallop Trim Border Punch.  The new punches have a more compact design which makes them even easier to use and they fold up for easier storage.  I love the "peek-a-boo" effect of this punch!

The center card uses another of my favorites, the Scallop Circle, which happened to fit this image perfectly (even though Stampin' Up! plans a lot of stamps to match punches I don't think that was intended here).  My label was stamped using the 5/8" Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon included in the kit, but I used Craft Chocolate Chip ink and adhered the ribbon with 5/16" Neutrals Brads.  Nice change of pace on the usual card label!

The right-hand card uses the Elegant Eggplant "rick-rack" from the "Orchard" Ribbon originals.  These ribbon sets are great because you get a variety of coordinating ribbon without having to buy a spool of each.  And of course another favorite punch, the Wide Oval punch.

And the last three were made using "Vintage Vogue":

I fell in love with this set the first time I opened the catalog.  In particular I love the big "F Friend" stamp because I can use it as a monogram for me or anyone in my immediate family!  The large flower from this set begs to have something in the middle, so for one card I used Filigree Brads (another big favorite of mine and many of my Stamp Clubbers!) and on the right I used the Clear Rhinestone Brads (and there's my favorite Scallop Trim Border Punch again with Very Vanilla ribbon peeking out from underneath!)

So in the end, I now have 10 cards and envelopes on hand to use for various occasions.  These are 4x4 cards so if you want to mail these, the cards can be put into a standard sized envelope instead.  I hope this inspires you to think closer about ordering these kits to have on hand or to give as gifts to someone who likes to make their own cards but doesn't have a lot of time or supplies.  By ordering a kit like this plus the "Orchard" ribbon originals, you'd qualify instantly for a free item from the Sale-A-Bration catalog!  Let me know if you'd like to try this, or click on the Shop Now button of my website (click on the Stampin' Up! logo to the right of this post).

Thanks, have a great day!
Peg

Heart Treat Cups!

The Sweet Treat Cups that appeared in the Holiday Mini sold like hotcakes!  Now Stampin' Up! has a special featuring a twist on the original - Heart Treat Cups!  These cups coordinate perfectly with our Heart Punch and are just right for Valentine's Day!  So now you have two choices when making sweet projects!  To make it more fun, Stampin' Up! has come out with a coordinating stamp set called Sweetheart.  This is a great multi-occasion stamp set that you will reach for beyond Valentine's Day for sure!  While this is great for Valentine's Day, keep these products in mind for weddings, Mother's Day, or anniversaries.  Let me know if this is a product you'd like to order, or have featured in a Workshop!

Have a sweet day!
Peg

Sale-A-Bration Is Here! Occasions Mini goes live today at noon!

This is Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion of the year!  For every $50 you order, you get to pick one item for FREE from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure!  Hostesses with $300 in sales get to pick an item for free as well!
The items in the regular brochure are usually of limited availability, with some exceptions (a new punch is being introduced which will continue over after Sale-A-Bration is over!)  And FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, items from the regular 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog are included in the offerings!  This is really cool, so check your wish list and see if you can something you've been wanting for free during this Special Promotion time!

Also, don't forget to check out the new Occasions Mini (click on its picture on the right side of the page to view the contents).  Two new offerings: Clear-mount stamps, and a new easier-to-use punch design!  Personally I wish they had come out with this punch design a long time ago, as I have so many they take up a lot of space!  The new ones fold up compact for easy storage.  The clear-mount stamps still use Stampin' Up!'s high quality rubber with the option of using clear blocks.  These stamp sets cost less than their wood-mount counterparts and take up the space of a DVD case.  Again, space saving!

I hope you will consider having a workshop during this time so you can earn some of these cool new things for free.  As an incentive, I will be giving a free spool of the new Satin Ribbon (your choice of color) to anyone who hosts a workshop during the Sale-A-Bration period (today through end of March).  We can have the workshop at your home, my home, or a catalog show, your choice!

As a side note, my Big Shot promotion is still active.  Purchase the Big Shot through me and I will throw in a Bigz die for free.  The Big Shot must be purchased as a regular item (i.e., can't use hostess credit for it).

And I give "Frequent Stamper Miles" to everyone who places an order.  For every $50 you spend, you earn a token.  10 tokens and you can pick any stamp set in the catalog for free!

Lots of fun things coming up with Stampin' Up! this month - hope you'll join in the fun.  Take care!

Peg

Skinny Tin Gift Card Holder & Valentine Candy "Sour Cream" Box

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!  Hope you like it!  Like everyone else, I want to be able to "toot my own horn" and show off, but I also like to toot other's horns too when I see projects from them that I like.  Just like most crafters, I'm really good at CASEing things!  But that's the beauty of the hobby - you don't have to be creative, you just have to know where to find creativity!

This is the Main Project my Stamp Club will be doing this month, a Skinny Tin Gift Card Holder with 4 little mini-cards.  It's a big one, so I hope my girls bring their Creative Caps!  It is using (among other things) the new Sale-A-Bration Good Neighbors Stamp Set and Welcome Neighbors Design Series Paper which coordinate perfectly together!  These products are only available by placing orders of $50 or more (one free item for each $50) so if you're interested, contact me or go to my website to place an order (click on the Shop Now button).  Detailed instructions on the dimensions for this project can also be requested via email.  Hope you like it!

Here's the tin front:

Here's the tin with the little cards I made (so many options with the Welcome Neighbor DSP!)

And here are the cards close up (note the new scallop border on the card with the big heart):

 

 

 

The second project, a little easier, is called a "sour cream" container, and my girls will love this because this is where the candy comes in (stamping and chocolate - and after we're done we drink wine! :-))

So there you go - let me know if you want to come to my Workshop this month - I'd love to have you!