LIft Me Up meets Wild West Balloon Adventures
Hello Stamping Friends,
Tomorrow starts a new sale from Stampin’ Up! Buy one Fast Fuse Adhesive and get two refills free. Fast fuse is stronger than our regular snail adhesive and the refills have 21.9 yards, about 67% more than a snail refill. Stampin’ Up! offered this sale last fall and sold out faster than anyone could imagine so they promised they would have the sale again, but it is only while supplies last and only for five days starting tomorrow, February 8, and ending February 12. So stock up now and save!
Use hostess code VJHRB73X if your order is under $150 and remember it is Sale A Bration days so every $50 order earns you a free product (and a special thank you gift from me)! Click to see the video:
Have you ever been on a hot air balloon ride? My Son In Law, Jonathan (Bud), gave Paul and I a ride for my birthday a couple of years ago and it was phenomenal! He has been a balloon pilot for Wild West Balloon Adventures in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for years.
With a balloon pilot in the family, the Lift Me Up stamp set with matching thinlits was a must have for me. It is on page 58 of the Annual Catalog; the matching Up & Away thinlits are on page 216 and have an extra-large balloon thinlit with smaller thinlits for the colors behind the main balloon so you can build your own balloon with no fussy cutting. My husband built this balloon birthday card for Jonathan casing one from Pinterest:
The birds are from the High Tide stamp set on page 140 of the Annual Catalog. The sun is from a retired set but we have a new stamp set in the Sale A Bration brochure which has the same type of sun image.
My daughter, Stacia, just announced that she and Jonathan are purchasing the Wild West Balloon Adventure Company of Steamboat Springs!! What a thrilling new chapter for them. Time for a celebration card!
I used the Amazing You free Sale A Bration stamp set shown above with the Lift Me Up stamps and Up & Away Thinlits to make a Double Z fold congratulations card for them:
I took a screen shot of one of the balloons shown on their website and then printed it on card stock to make the card personal. Julie Davison has a great video tutorial for this card at http://juliedavison.blogspot.com/search?q=Lift+Me+Up
Is going for a ride in a hot air balloon something you have dreamed of doing? Visit Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Jonathan and Stacia will make the experience a wonderful one for you! Click on the picture to visit their website:
Don’t forget that Fast Fuse Five day sale!
SAL, Sail ALong – together you and I – for we can fly!
Karen
Heartfelt Blooms Thank You!
Hello Stamping Friends,
My daughter brought me “Heartfelt Blooms” and I loved how they resembled our new Sale A Bration stamp set!
I didn’t realize how poorly the pictures of the cards turned out until I downloaded the images, so bear with me a bit. 
It looks like I have an orange filter on the camera, sigh…. the cards are gone and I can’t retake the picture.
The free Tutti-Frutti card bases have a nice designer paper look, front and back, and the envelopes are colored to match with a great inside design as well. I cut the first layer at 5″ X 3 3/4″ to leave a nice designer border from the base card. I used crumb cake to match the two envelopes that had crumb cake linings and black for the first layer on the cards with black envelope linings. The top layer is Whisper White cut at 4 3/4″ X 3 1/2″. The flowers are stamped in Wild Wasabi, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, and Crushed Curry. The Pool Party image is fussy cut and popped up for an extra bit of dimension. A 4″ length of ribbon and three sequins dressed up the card without taking away from the detailed flower image. For the inside I used the greeting from Paisleys & Posies “I thank you for your part in my journey.” since without all of you supporting my business there would be no business.
That little strip at the bottom is black – uh huh. Sad, but don’t you just love the little mums stamped in the corner?
The Wild Wasabi image came out the very best so I made another set of cards using Wild Wasabi card stock as the base and stamping the edge with Versa Mark and the little tiny flowers and leaves from the vine of the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.
The first layer is black and the ribbon is black- you are wishing you had this wonderful filtering lens right? The dimensions of both layers are the same as above. For the inside I chose a greeting from the Rose Wonder stamp set:
Imagine the possibilities!
SAL, (Share A Laugh as you look at these crazy orange pictures!)
Karen
Party Pandas
Hello Stamping Friends,
What a flurry of a month this has been! Our new grandson, Emmitt, was born January 9!
What a miracle is a new little life! Fun and adventures for all in the future!
Today I will feature the Party Pandas stamp set:
I saw this card setup on stampsnlingers.com with the pandas and balloon, then changed the designer series paper and the balloon and the circles and added hearts; so I guess this is a CASE that is copy and selectively edit instead of copy and share everything! What I would recommend with this stamp set is doing what I did here with the panda’s eyes to make them friendlier. I used a white gel pen to increase the size of the whites and then made a bigger black dot in the middle of the white. I thought the eyes were too beady. Can you tell a difference?
The Designer Series Paper is Pop of Pink.
- Base of the card: Melon Mambo 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ Scored at 4 1/4″
- 1st Layer: Whisper White 4″ X 5 1/4″ make two so you have one for the inside
- Top Layer: Designer Series Paper (DSP) 3 3/4″ X 5″
- From the DSP punch a balloon for the inside – Balloon Bouquet Punch #140609, page 207
- From a scrap of Melon Mambo punch a balloon for the front, sponge the edges and use a white gel pen for the line
- With the Big Shot, cut two Melon Mambo 1 7/8″ Stitched Shape Circle Framelits and two Whisper White same size
- Melon Mambo 4 x 4 and Whisper White 4 x 4 needed for the circles, they are offset and pink on white then white on pink
- Whisper White 2 1/2″ X 4″ for stamping the two pandas with Tuxedo black, color the circles in the hat and then fussy cut
- Stamp Happy Birthday on Whisper White Scrap and cut with the Bunch of Banners framelit
- The hearts are from the Brights Enamel Shapes on page 196 of the Annual Catalog #141680
- The Baker’s Twine I used is retired but there is solid white #124262 or black and white striped #134576 on page 199. Trick: to adhere your Baker’s Twine, position the twine, put a small dab of liquid Tombow on a scrap of paper, slightly lift the twine and slide the scrap with the glue under the twine, let the twine absorb a little glue then remove the scrap. No mess!
- Melon Mambo Marker and Black Marker were used to add a little line on the balloon to look like a tie from the twine
- The inside greeting comes from the Ribbon of Courage stamp set, the confetti is from Party Pandas
Ribbon of Courage in clear mount is $19, the Balloon Punch is $18, The DSP is $3.90, the Enamel Shapes are $9.00 and twine is $3.00 so you can reach your $50 with those purchases and get the Party Pandas for free!!
SAL, Stamp A Lot, Smile A Little and Share A Love
Karen (Click on the image to go to the store)
Hearts Come Home
Hello Stamping Friends,
Today I send you the Hearts Come Home Christmas card I designed. I am sure you all have your cards made and mailed so you may want to consider these products for next year! Imagine being that far ahead…. so Merry Christmas and may your heart find its home in the Father as your family returns home to celebrate with you!
I enjoy this card style with its flap on the front that reveals all the layers on the inside to make an eye pleasing card.
The stamp set and framelits are on page 39 of the Holiday catalog, bundled for a 10% discount- wood #146065, clear #146068.
The inside greeting and the bow are from Holly Berry Happiness, pg. 118 of the Annual Catalog – #142061
The medallion is made with the hearts square from Window Box Thinlits and then cut with the #3 Regular Circle Framelit and backed by a red foil circle cut with the same framelit and offset just a little.
Card Base – Thick Whisper White, 7 3/4″ X 4 1/4″ Score at 5 1/2″
Red Foil Inside Layer – 4″ X 5 1/4″
Top Layer Inside – Regular Whisper White, 3 3/4″ X 5″ First, stamp the greeting and run through the Big Shot to cut out the village, then emboss with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder #139672. Pull back slightly on the village pieces to make them stand out.
First Layer of the outside panel – Red Foil – 2″ X 4″
Second Layer of the panel – Regular Whisper White – 1 3/4″ X 3 3/4″ – Embossed with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder
First Layer of the outside flap – Red Foil – 4 1/4″ X 3″
Second Layer of the flap – Regular Whisper White – 4 X 2 3/4″ Stamp the greeting close to the right edge so you have room for the church. After stamping, emboss with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder.
Third Layer of the flap – Village Cut out – regular Whisper White – 4 1/2″ X 3″ The trick here is to line your framelit up so the tree on the right side of the house is just at the right edge of the paper. The framelit will not reach to the left edge so you will fussy cut to the edge and then you will cut off the tree at the right hand side and mount it at the edge of the left hand side, covering up the dent made by your framelit. The goal is to move the church to the right to leave room for the medallion.
Behind the scene – Red Foil – 4 1/2″ X 3″ – use the same alignment as you did with the white top layer detailed above.
Medallion – Red Foil – 2″ X 2″ Cut with #3 circle framelit, (old set) – 1 1/2″ circle framelit in the new set. The Window Box Thinlits dies #142762 is used with a 2″ X 2″ piece of regular Whisper White. The hearts are cut and then they are cut again with the circle framelit.
The bow is white embossed with the Holly Berry Happiness #142061 outline bow stamp on red foil – 1 3/4″ X 1 1/2″ and punched with the Holly Berry Builder Punch #141843.
A touch of grey on the bell topped with the Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush #141897 finishes up your card!
SAL, Sending A Love card to you
Karen
Click on SAL to shop.
Musical Season
Hello Stamping Friends, (click on the little SAL to go to the blog instead of just this post)
Did you squeal with delight when you saw the Musical Season bundle on page 25 of the holiday catalog?
I wanted to use all the instruments, the greetings and the treble clef so after a bit of thought I came up with this:
The ‘Peace-Joy-Love’ is not glitter. It is black embossed and caught the flash of the camera. In real life it is shiny embossed black. The lute is silver embossed on black paper and the harp is copper embossed on black paper and each are cut out with the framelits. The detail of the instruments embossed beautifully. The french horn is cut out of gold foil paper and adhered to a basic black cut out of the same. Our metallic sequins #144214 have copper, gold and silver so I could use a sequin of each color next to the instrument it matched.
The base is Thick Whisper White 5 1/2″ X 4 1/4″
The Basic Black is 10 1/2″ X 4 scored at 5 1/4″ But – DO NOT BEND the score line until after you cut down 1 1/2″ from the top. Fussy cut around each instrument ending at the 1 1/2″ cut from the top.
Merry Music Specialty Designer Paper #144623 (page 13 of the Holiday Catalog): 3 3/4″ X 5″
If you have a large acrylic block you can mount both greetings on the block, stamp in Versa Mark and emboss with black embossing powder.
Gold Foil for french horn – 2 1/2″ X 3 1/4″
Gold Foil strip for left hand side – 4″ X 1/4″
Basic Black backing for the horn – 2 3/4″ X 3 1/2″
Basic Black Strip for the lute – 1 1/2″ X 4 1/4″ Emboss in Silver
Basic Black Strip for the harp – 1 12″ X 3″ Emboss in Copper
Basic Black for the treble clef – 2 1/4″ X 1″
Simple yet perfectly stunning for all your music loving friends’ Christmas cards.
SAL, Send A Lot of Christmas cards you made yourself!
Karen
I would love to earn your business and be your demonstrator! Hostess code for December is TRSWNNDN
Night In Bethlehem
Hello Stamping Friends,
Page 26 of your holiday catalog has the Night In Bethlehem stamp set that I will be featuring here. The bundle, in wood #146043, or clear # 146044, includes the stamp set and the Bethlehem Edgelits Dies which have the most amazing city scenes that fit one over the other to make a phenomenal card!
I chose to do a black and white scene and used white embossing for the stars and the greeting. I placed a star above Mary with one of the Metallic Enamel Shapes #141678. The shooting star was an accident from rolling the stamp a bit but my stampers loved it and wanted to recreate it in the sky. Mary and Joseph were stamped with the Memento Black Tuxedo Ink #132708 and then cut out with the Bethlehem Edgelit Die.
The inside could just as well have been the outside of a card, (you will find that with most of my designs.) The white on black designer paper is on page 13 of the holiday catalog- Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper- #144623. (DSP is my shortened version of ‘designer series paper’ when I give measurements.) Note: the city is stamped at the bottom of the whisper white layer and lined up with the base without leaving the standard bottom border of black DSP. This alignment makes the city stand out better. The Whisper White layer starts as 5″ X 3 3/4″. This top piece is cut diagonally 1″ up from the bottom and 2″ over on the top of each side. Hint: When you align it on your Stampin’ Trimmer, place pieces of sticky note on the trimmer to mark the diagonal and you can cut many pieces without remeasuring. Another Hint: put all three stamps, the star, the greeting and the city, on a large acrylic block, use your grid paper to test and make sure they are straight, and then you can stamp the inside all at once making this a very easy card for making multiples. Other measurements:
Base, Thick Whisper White Cardstock – 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ , scored at 4 1/4″
Outside first layer, Basic Black, 5 1/4″ X 4″
Outside city, Regular Whisper White, 5″ X 6″
Mary and Joseph, Regular Whisper White, 2 1/2″ X 2″
Inside Merry Music DSP – 5 1/4″ X 4″
Top Inside Layer – Regular Whisper White – 5″ X 3 3/4″
Start by stamping the greeting and stars with Versa Mark then embossing with white embossing powder, I used the Stamp A Ma Jig for placement of the greeting. The stars are stamped and embossed on the top 1 3/4″ of the basic black. Don’t go down too far or you will have stars in your street!
The back of the city, the framelit with three palm trees, is adhered directly to the basic black 1″ up from the bottom. The second layer of the city is popped up with dimensionals lining up its bottom with the bottom of the first layer.
Mary and Joseph are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, cut out with the framelit, and popped up with dimensionals. It is important to put the dimensionals below their heads so the bottom part is popped up and the heads are directly on the city.
Stamp your name on the back and you are done!
SAL, See A Light shining in Bethlehem
Karen
December’s hostess code is TRSWNNDN. Year end close outs are happening now. Click on SAL to go to the store.
November 2017 Paper Pumpkin- Three Wise Men Sock
Hello Stamping Friends,
The year end close out is ongoing and this month’s hostess code is TRSWNNDN!
Before I post all the fun cards from the last events I want to show you my version of November’s Paper Pumpkin. The kit is an adorable set of 10 little stockings with a black plaid top to match the green plaid cards from October’s Paper Pumpkin. My creative juices started flowing when I saw a Zum Bar of soap in the grocery store made with frankincense and myrrh. They had small ones that would fit perfect in the little stockings. I ordered some gold plated coins and a gold looking Reagan dollar to fill the stocking with gifts representing the gifts from the wise men to the Christ child. I didn’t order this year’s wise men stamp set (Wise Men From Afar #144875) so I used the Come To Bethlehem stamp set from a few years back. With Stazon black ink I was able to get a nice image on the stocking.
I used a Swarovski crystal for the star and 6″ of black and white gingham Stampin’ Up! ribbon from days past to create a hanger for the stocking.
I discovered that one side of the “Merry Music Specialty Designer Paper” #144623 had the music to ‘We Three Kings’ so I substituted a little banner from the designer paper instead of the white one provided in the kit. I did use the white banner as a template for cutting but cut the banner 2 1/4″ long instead of the 2 7/8″ original. It needed a little something else so I added the treble clef from the Musical Instruments Framelits Dies #144677. This set is a must have that will be used well beyond Christmas.
The stocking still had room so I googled the lyrics to ‘We Three Kings’ and found a great printable version that I cut down, sponged and then distressed the edges before rolling it up on a skewer like a scroll. Click to download:
We Three Kings – printable lyrics
The retired stamp set had the greeting: “O come let us adore Him….” I pray you all find time to do just that this wonderful Christmas season!
SAL, Seek And Listen for He is still waiting and wants your love above all other gifts!
Karen
November 18 Card Buffet – 6 card designs
Hello Stamping Friends,
Saturday, November 18, is the fourth Christmas Card Buffet here at my house in Castle Rock! We have had fun times each month and some stampers are well on their way to having a number of handmade Christmas cards for those special people in their lives.
There are two sessions: morning 9-12 and afternoon 1:30-4:30. Bring a sack lunch and stay for both sessions if you would like. I will have drinks, snacks and chocolate to keep up your stamping energy. There will be a door prize and a thank you gift as always. There are six card designs to choose from and prices are $5 for one card of one design, $8 for two cards of one design, $10 for three cards of one design. The cards, fronts and insides, are listed here with numbers for each design. Just RSVP by Sunday evening, November 12 with 1) the cards’ design numbers 2) How many of each design 3) Which session you will be attending.
Card #1, Believe
Card #2, Everything Merry
Card #3, Musical Season
Note: The black embossed words caught the flash but are true black
Card #4, Bethlehem
Card #5, Ready For Christmas
Card #6, Hearts Come Home
Space is limited so RSVP soon with the session/s you would like to attend, the cards’ numbers you would like to make and how many of each card!
I will be posting each card individually with measurements and supplies in a future post. If you would like to know right away so you can order just leave a comment, email or text me and I will feature that card first. The hostess code for November is ZQEYYZXM. Use the code if your order is under $150 and receive a thank you gift from me. Over $150 and you receive the hostess benefits yourself!
Stampin’ Blends Available Now!
November 1 was the debut of Stampin’ Ups’ Alcohol Markers! Click on the image below for a video from the home office.
Click on this image to go to the online store and view all the colors, kits, and package deals:
There are three days left to order your November Paper Pumpkin! We’ve heard talk that it is awesome! Click below:
As always contact me if you have any questions!
SAL, Shine A Light this Christmas
Karen (Click on SAL to go to the online store)
Hats Off Spinner Card
Hello Stamping Friends,
July is slipping away quickly and we have two specials that you don’t want to miss:
- For every $50 dollars spent in July you receive a $5 coupon code by email to be used on a purchase in August
- Sign up to join the fun and become a demonstrator – hobby or business – and get $72 of additional free merchandise. That is a total of $197 of merchandise for the joining fee of $99
Scroll down to the prior post for all the details! If you are reading this on your mobile device, click on the little SAL image at the top to be redirected to the full blog. This month’s hostess code is QHJHTKJQ
My hostess, Nicole, requested a masculine spinner card for her party which challenged my creativity. After giving the idea some thought I used the “Guy Greetings” stamp set on page 36 of the new catalog. It is available in wood mount # 138825, clear mount #138828 and photopolymer #137178.
And created this:
Yes, I did cut the stamp with the six hats into six pieces. The Designer Series Paper, DSP, beneath the Very Vanilla top layer is the new Foil Frenzy paper. The catalog picture doesn’t do it justice:
The Hats Off To You! from Guy Greetings is embossed with copper embossing powder and uses an upside down cutout from the Hearth and Home Thinlits:
And of course one must put a feather in the cap and ‘Jar of Love’ had a great stamp, the one at the bottom right, which just needed a little extra feathering with a Chocolate Chip marker:
To cut out the spinner path, you need a framelit or punch that is just a little narrower than a penny. The Bunch of Banners framelits had the perfect one, the little one at the bottom right:
Since the card is 6 1/2″ long it took four cuts across to make the spinner opening but well worth the time. Cut a 7/8″ wide strip of sticky note and place it at the bottom of the Very Vanilla layer to guide your four cuts.
The inside brings in the foil paper behind another hat just like the spinner on front and adds the classic car and greeting! Scroll back up and check out the variety of greetings this set offers.
- Base – Early Espresso 6 1/2″ X 6 1/2″ scored at 3 1/4″
- Foil Frenzy DSP 6″ X 3″
- Top Layer -Very Vanilla, 5 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ , sponged with Crumb Cake ink and distressed with a finger nail (or distressing tool)
- Inside Layer – Very Vanilla 6″ X 2 7/8″ , sponged with Crumb Cake ink
- Spinner – Scrap of Very Vanilla for 3/4″ punch and Scrap of DSP for the 1″ punch- make a second one for the inside
- Stamps – Guy Greetings and Jar of Love
- Tools – 1″ circle punch, 3/4″ circle punch, Bunch of Banner Framelits, Hearth and Home Thinlits, Chocolate Chip Marker
- Inks – Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Versa Mark and Copper Embossing Powder
- Embellishments – 3 Candy Dots or pearls colored with a brown Sharpie
- For Assembly – Foam Adhesive Strips (see page 203 for this great new product), two pennies and Stampin’ Dimensionals
- Envelope Punch Board for a perfectly sized envelope
Adhere your Very Vanilla top layer to the DSP layer and cut the path for the spinner on both layers at the same time. I used temporary glue to adhere the two layers for cutting the path, then took them apart, decorated the top and then glued them together permanently. For the spinner to work it is critical to mount these two layers to the base using Foam Adhesive Strips (or a lot of Dimensionals).
For temporary glue just use a bit of snail and pat it with your finger and the oils in your finger will keep it from sticking too hard.
For the spinner, place a dimensional in the very middle of a penny and place a second penny on top. Even though the dimensional isn’t round it works perfectly. Then place another dimensional on the top penny and add your hat spinner made from a 1″ circle punch of DSP and the hat stamped on a scrap of vanilla, punched with a 3/4″ circle punch and adhered to the DSP. Beware – don’t get your dimensionals mixed up when you lift the slot to slip the bottom penny inside the path. If you use the dimensional between the hat and top penny it won’t spin.
What do you think?
The catalog can be viewed in pdf form from the catalog tab at the top of the blog. If you would like a hard copy mailed to you, contact me at [email protected].
SAL (Sun A Little– on a beach or a boat or…..)
Karen Click on SAL to go to the online store
Happy Fourth of July!
Happy Fourth of July Stamping Friends!
May you have a wonderful day enjoying friends, food and fireworks and may we all remember that ‘freedom is not free’ and the many who have gone before and are serving now to preserve our freedom! Thank you to all those and thank you to a mighty God – may “One nation under God” be forever true!
This bookmark uses three of my many favorites in the catalog and the new Lemon Lime Twist ‘In Color’ paper. The greetings, front and back, are from “Crafting Forever” . The butterfly is from the ‘Move Me’ Thinlits and has a lovely matching stamp set. I will be posting a card using that set in the near future. For those of you who sell cards, the “Crafting Forever’ stamp set has a separate copyright stamp for using on your cards. The branch is from a long time favorite I hope never retires – “Thoughts and Prayers”. Here are the details:
- Base= Basic Black 2 1/2″ X 6 1/4″
- Front= Lemon Lime Twist 2 1/4″ X 6″
- Butterfly= Basic Black 2 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ Cut with Big Shot and Move Me Thinlits -Two butterfly thinlits used together
- Circles for the top= Basic Black 3/4″, Lemon Lime Twist 1/2″; punched with the 3/16″ hole punch (Crop A Dile)
- Words= Crafting Forever Stamp Set
- Dots on background= You Move Me Stamp Set
- Flowering Branch= Thoughts and Prayers stamp set
- Ribbon= 6″ Ombre Lemon Lime Twist, 6″ Black Baker’s Twine
- Three Rhinestone Basic Jewels
And for a few Fourth of July cards I went back into history and found one I had made by creating two sizes of tubes with card stock and then cutting very thin slices of the tube and mounting them to create a fireworks kind of look:
Remember Paper Pumpkin’s cute pinwheels a few years ago? I mounted them on a decoration I found at the store to make a fun wall hanging:
So celebrate the Stars and Stripes that represent our great country!
SAL, (Salute A Legend)
Karen
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