Monday, January 30, 2017

A Pocket Card

I've been so busy with classes, work, and other life things that I am just now getting back to stamping.  But I'm not ready to show you what I've been doing because I'm still wanting to share some of the projects from the Conference I went to Jan. 11 - 14.  Here's a fun pocket card that was demo'ed for us:



It started with the Note Pocket die from Watermelon Fusion card stock and our new Love Stripes Embossing Folder.  I love the way only the front flap is embossed!   One of the flowers from the Summer Garden stamp set is stamped on a piece of Whip Cream, colored with our Color Burst Pencils and cut out.  A layer of Pool Play is stamped with the Thank You text from the same stamp set and inserted in the pocket.  The flower is layered on a circle of Summer Days card stock and adhered over the assembled pocket after adding the Watermelon Fusion Satin Ribbon.  So easy!

I am starting to make some cards for an upcoming class on Feb. 17.  I'll be teaching 4 birthday cards and just finished my masculine card. Feels good to be stamping again after being gone, being sick with a horrible head cold, then other things that had priority.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Spring Banner

While at our Leadership Conference we were shown the most adorable banner using some new products from the Bloom This Way mini catalog.


A lot of our great dies were used to make this gorgeous banner!

Pennant Fun die, Reversed Banner die, Summer Branch die, Bloom Cluster die, and Bloom Skirt steel rule die. And did you notice the cool flowers?  They were made using our new Spring Crepes, a cool crepe paper! I didn't get the opportunity to get any of this at Leadership because all the packages were snapped up so quickly.  I found the accordion fold flowers particularly interesting as they were made using the Bloom Skirt die.


The Journey Crew even made up the directions showing us how they made one panel of the banner.  I hope to try this next month to welcome Spring to our home.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

It's a Treat!

I have so many pictures of projects to share from our Leadership Conference in Las Vegas.  Today I have some cute treat boxes that are just adorable!


Can you see giving these fun little boxes full of goodies to your children, grandchildren, or even great grandchildren?  I can and will! 

The top 3 boxes start with the Treat Box die.  Assorted card stocks were used.  Then, using the new Stripe Band die and pattern papers from the Eggcellent Prints paper, a belly band was made. An egg was made using Mr. Egg and our Bloom Benefit Egg Party die to which was added a stamped set of tulips from the Amazing Day stamp set and a cute little cork butterfly from another Bloom Benefit Cork Flutter. (Remember, Bloom Benefits are freebies you earn on each $50 of an order.) Add a coordinating ribbon before attaching the egg layer and a cute little treat box is complete!

The 2nd row of boxes were made starting with the  Treat Cone steel rule die and the Sweet Spring paper pack.  Add a triangle of coordinating card stock to each side for contrast. Stamp a Campfire Friend from it's Bundle, color if desired, then Foam Dot over the triangle.  Fill with goodies, tie the ends of the Cone together to form the box with Licorice Twist twine, add a coordinating ribbon bow and it's ready to give away!

I'm thinking of using this cute little box in an upcoming class in Green Valley, AZ next month.  If you live between Tucson and Nogales, AZ contact me if you are interested!

Monday, January 23, 2017

Three Cards of Fun

Did you notice I didn't have a post last Friday?  I came down with a head cold so hard and fast.  Felt fine Wednesday morning but by 4 pm, I was not functional!  Wow!  Yesterday I finally started feeling like moving so got a little bit of work done.  Missed church as I didn't want to pass this crap on.  But last week I was in Las Vegas, NV for our first Leadership Conference and it was fun with great classes on building our business and teams.  I have so many notes to compile and review.  But we did make 3 cards and Richard Garay and his wonderful staff demoed a few other cards for us.  Here's 3 using product from our Bloom This Way mini catalog.


Richard's son, David, designed the cute set of dinosaurs called Dino Love. Isn't it just adorable!! And I love the metal accent ! The print paper is from our Sweet Spring paper pad,. Along with some Whip Cream Thread,  a couple Rhinestones, Circle die cuts, this card is ready for a young boy for a birthday or even Valentine's day!


And here's another fun card for a youngster!  I just LOVE the Fun Triangles Die Strip with strips of different colored card stocks behind it! And the cute Campfire Friends Bundle is just too cute!!! Wouldn't this be great for a birthday card! A bit of Natural Twine, again some Circle die cuts, a Cool Pool ribbon bow, a few Bloom Time sequins, and a wood button  and who wouldn't want this!


And one of my favorites! I just LOVE this cross from the Color Cross Bundle!   It's layered over the
Doily die cut, some beautiful Pearls, Buttercream ribbon, and a Media Flower in the center of the cross!    And if you click on the picture you can see the interesting "stitching" around the edges of the card.  This was done using one of the dies from the Pocket Cuts Die set!  I never would have thought of this!  Very clever!

I do have all these stamps and Bundles and can't wait to play with them but I do have to prep for a class on Friday.  I have seen some great cards made by fellow coaches using our new products and I'm chomping at the bit!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Not My WorkDesk But....

I missed the weekly What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday last week as I was in Las Vegas, Nevada for a special conference through the company I'm an independent demonstrator for.  My desk was an absolute disaster yesterday and today too as I prep for a class this afternoon.  Seems it changes moment by moment as I pack and organize what I need.  But I will give you a glimpse of my shelves holding my company's products as I got it fairly organized.  This fun weekly tour of desks is brought together by Julia of the Stamping Ground


The baskets hold stamps, dies, twines, bottles, embellishments, etc. There's also old catalogs, certificates, large steel rule dies, and more around the baskets. The bottom shelf has books and notebooks full of stuff that span many years plus newsletters, photo albums, and who knows what.

Not much happening to share but who knows next week.  I'll probably have a couple projects to share and my desk.  Stay tuned and please head over to the Stamping Ground and the links to oodles of desks from Europe to the United States.  Lots of goodies to see!  I'll be looking around this morning a little bit as I finish packing then heading out for my class.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Around the Globe, Part 2

Here are the other 2 cards from our January Bloom Box.  Later this week I hope to share some of the cards and product we got at Conference.


I added an extra row of our gorgeous Whip Cream Sparkle Tape to my card.  It really added more bling and pop to it.


That's quite a contrast with the Licorice Sparkle and the Be Cool Tape.

Card stock: Sweet Berry, Blue Lagoon, Whip Cream, and Black Licorice
Inks: Black Licorice and Sweet Berry
Dies: Everyday Tags and Circles
Silk: Silver
Embellies: Amazing Accents, Blue Skies Sequins, Licorice Sparkle TapeWhip Cream Sparkle Tape,
Be Cool Tape, and Licorice Twist Twine
Other: Stapler and Silver Staples


I think of all the cards this is my favorite.  We did a 2 tone stamp technique on the globes with colors I would never have put together.


Isn't this cool!  And I used my MISTI to help me place my text exactly where I wanted it!






Card stocks: Sweet Pear, Pool Play, Whip Cream, and Huckleberry Fusion
Inks: Huckleberry Fusion, Sweet Pear, and Pool Play
Dies: Bloom Benefit Look Here
Silk: Cool Pool
Embellies: Blue Skies Sequins, Be Cool Tape, and Whip Cream Thread


I've been getting the Bloom Box since I joined January 2015.  There have only been about 2 stamp sets that I wasn't wild about but most all I have enjoyed over and over.  And the directions can be used for inspiration with other stamp sets for layout designs and color combinations.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Around the Globe, Part 1

Last weekend a friend, Angie S., and I got together and worked on our January Bloom Box.  But this weekend I'm in Las Vegas, NV attending a Leadership Conference with Fun Stampers Journey.  I prepared this post, a couple before, and next Monday's ahead of time.  I want to share 2 of the 4 cards we made from the Bloom Box.


The stamp set that is exclusive until May is called My World.  It's a great set that can be used for many occasions!


We used the following supplies:
Card stocks: Sweet Berry, Whip Cream, Sweet Pear, Blue Lagoon, Huckleberry Fusion, and Pool Play
Ink: Black Licorice
Silks: Silver
Embellies: Licorice Twist Twine and Cool Tune Elements
Other: Stapler and Silver Staples


I love the variety and uniqueness of the cards that FSJ comes up with.  This one we cut apart a tag to make it look longer!






Card stocks: Blue Lagoon, Huckleberry Fusion, Sweet Berry, Whip Cream, and Sweet Pear
Ink: Black Licorice
Coloring Tools: Color Splash Pencils and Blending Brush
Dies: Circles and Everyday Tags
Silks: Silver
Embellies: Blue Skies Sequins and Whip Cream Thread

I'm constantly amazed at the color combinations FSJ uses in these cards!  I love the combos and would not have generally put them together.

Monday I'll be sharing the other 2 cards from the Box.  If you are interested in getting this great monthly card kit and exclusive stamp set just click on the FSJ Be Amazing Logo at the top of the side bar, then click Bloom Box.  It's $29.95 plus ship/tax.  You do commit to 6 months so please remember that.  And it comes right to your address!


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Chicken Soup

I belong to a faith-based Health Share organization called Samaritan Ministries and each month I send a card and a check for a determined amount to someone in the group to help with their medical needs.  This month I made a card using a stamp set that I haven't used before, Get Well.


I love the cute chickie sitting in a cup of soup!  Guess it would have to be "chicken noodle"....
Oh that's bad.  Anyway, I used retired paper as I have oodles and hate to waste it but any of our cool printed papers would work wonderfully.  I did make sure I coordinated the solid card stocks with the printed to keep it all flowing. I stamped the chickie on Whip Cream card stock with Black Licorice ink then die cut with our Circle dies & piercing elements.


I colored the image with our Color Burst pencils and blended.  But the color around the text banner was done with a Copic marker that matched.  And a few Blue Skies sequins gave that touch of bling.

Today I am on my way to Las Vegas, NV for FSJ's first Leadership conference.  All coaches who promoted from their initial joining (Leader, Senior Leader, Executive Leader, and up - I'm an Exec. Leader) qualified to go.  I'm signed up for 5 work classes and all the fun stuff!  I'm even signed to ride in the High Roller Ferris Wheel!  I'm excited but also apprehensive as I have a bit of an issue with heights! But what an experience that will be!

Monday, January 9, 2017

Winter Trees

Last week I made a card for a fellow coach's weekly challenge of "snow".  I was going to use our modeling paste but since I haven't used it in ages it was rock hard, as was my gesso and gel medium.  Bummer, that stuff is expensive!  So I had to go with plan B.


I find myself using dies way more than stamps and this card is no exception.  Only the squirrel is stamped.
I used these dies: Winter Hills (still available through March 2017), Snapshot Frames (for the Love), and  Circle dies (used the negative to make the moon).  The squirrel (from the Share Life ATS) was stamped in Oatmeal Cookie ink and carefully cut out.


I used the following card stocks: Whip Cream, Denim Days, and Fresh Forest.  I added the "snow" made of Sparkle Cuts and Sparkle Dust on our great Craft Glue.  The moon was made using our White PanPastel and a bit of Silver Silk for the stars.

This will make a great Christmas card.  Guess I will be saving it for a while.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Love You

As I was looking though some of my projects I found that I hadn't shared this one with you!  In fact, I haven't shared all from my upcoming class on Jan. 27.  Hmmm.


This card is cased from our new mini catalog (see link in sidebar for the Bloom This Way mini).  I did change one of the pattern papers to one that is retired as I didn't want to use up our cute Sweet Spring pad for my class!  I started with a folded card base of Whip Cream card stock then cut the strips to fit.  The heart is from our River Stone card stock then die cut with the Heart-Felt dies.


Using our Border Basics dies I made the scallop piece from our Candy Apple paper.  It really pops under the text!  And the text is from the Selfie Love stamp set. We used this set last June at our annual convention. Then a bit of our Black Licorice thread and some Silver sequins... done.  Oh, did you notice I scored around the stamped piece?  Kinda frames the words!

This card was quite easy to make yet packs a great design!  I might even use it as one of my Valentine cards.  And I need a bunch!

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

A New Year and a Messy Desk

2016 has gone and 2017 is now here. We didn't celebrate other than watching some movies and eating popcorn.  We were in bed about 9:30 but I did wake a bit when fireworks were set off a ways away.  And I have not been crafty this week as I've been busy getting ready to go to a conference in Las Vegas, NV next week.  Yesterday I spent over $1000 getting general maintenance done to my car along with NEW tires, ouch. But today I'm giving you a view of my messy desk that has collected a few things and has a remnant of left overs from playing last Saturday!  And to see more desks and possibly some great projects please head over to the Stamping Ground (our head desker, Julia's blog) when you reach the end of my post.


What is going on here?  Well, oodles!  What can I say. There's cards and directions for an upcoming class sitting on my red Cricut, my paper trimmer in front of it, some dies to the right, then the card I made Saturday sitting on my new MISTI, a piece of paper telling me what to bring to the conference with my ATG adhesive roller and my Amaze die cut machine at the far right.  My spray bottle of water for my cleaning rag in not where it belongs, neither is a box of glue dots and assorted other stuff that need to be put away.

This pic was taken last night as today I'll be cleaning my desk and making some cards so I'll have some posts while I'm away. Now please head over to the Stamping Ground and check out Julia's desk and the links to many more!

And I hope you have a fabulous 2017!!

Monday, January 2, 2017

Jack Lumber on Flannel

I recently purchased the mini MISTI and have been watching a few videos that I have pinned about using it.  Saturday I made a card with it and made my background with an ombre effect.


I used our Flannel Life background stamp and 3 different inks on my Whip Cream card stock base, Bubble Gum, Candy Apple, and Raspberry Berry.  I used a sponge to gently smudge the lines of the Candy Apple and Raspberry Berry so that I wouldn't have just a line of ink differences but to make the change of colors more gradual.  I stamped the 3rd color a couple times to get to deep color I wanted.  The MISTI was wonderful in doing the multiple inking yet left such a clear image!  I then splattered some Dark Roast Silk and set it aside to dry.


I layered my "flannel" on a piece of Denim Days card stock.  Using my Journey Rectangles die set I cut the small layer of Denim Days.  I wrapped some Natural Thread around this then added a button from the Wooden Accents pack.  I stamped Jack Lumber and die cut on Whip Cream  and colored with Color Burst pencils.  Isn't he a handsome guy!

I know there are other tools similar to the MISTI and I am in no way saying this is the best but it is just what I purchased.  I like how these tools help you place your stamps in a way that you can do multiple stamping or precision placing.



After stamping the main images I carefully placed the words over the stamped images then closed the lid so that when I inked and stamped those word images they were exactly where I wanted them!  You can find lots of videos on YouTube about these machines.  Another is the NANO which looks almost the same but a different color.  I got mine on Amazon along with the bottle of Novus cleaner for plastic.