Fresh Take on Christmas

Hey everyone, I know, it's super late on Thursday, BUT I DID promise you a post today, so here it is! I would have posted earlier, but me and the DD went for haircuts and pampering after I got my final cards designed for this Saturday's Chrismas in August class. And just in case you are wondering, this IS one of them! So if you are coming, I hope you like it!

I am showing you something old and something new here, NO, I'm not getting married again - stamp sets, silly girls! The snowflakes are new stamps from the Holiday Mini Catalog that makes it's debut in just 5 short days! It's called Serene Snowflakes and can you believe that I almost didn't buy this one? I do have a lot of snowflake stamps, but the delicate laciness of these just called to me and I HAD to have them. I've stamped them in a combination of Silver Encore ink and Elegant Eggplant ink.

The greeting is from an old favorite stamp set, Many Merry Messages. If you don't own this one, put it on your list, it's a goodie! I've stamped the greeting in Elegant Eggplant as well and even used my Stampin' Sponge on the edges of the Whisper White cardstock in the same color. I love the look of this purple against the pale purple of Lavender Lace. It's just so fresh feeling to me.

For the focal point, I've centered the large snowflake on the cardstock and added a Purple Rhinestone Ice Square brad for the final touch. These pieces of cardstock are popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals to give it height and added elegance.

You really don't need a lot of bling or a bunch of supplies to make a great card. This one uses two wonderfully versatile stamp sets, two ink pads, two colors of cardstock and one embellishment. The Many Merry Messages stamp set is one that I've been using for the past 3 years and since it has such a wide variety of sayings and fonts, is one I can use for years to come. You can pair it with any number of other Christmas images to create beautiful greeting cards every year and no one will ever receive the same card twice. In short it was a great investment.

I encourage you to visit my website to view all the products I've used here today. You'll see for yourself that with just a few items, you can make lots of fabulous projects!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another card project. It'll be Friday and that means Blogger's Challenge!

~~Robin

Don't Send Out the Search Party.........

I've not gone missing, I promise! I've just been super, super busy the last few days and some of that busy includes stamping up some great new projects for you! I'll be back tomorrow with a new project to share - you will love it!

In the meantime, enjoy this fine summer day and go get some ice cream with the family tonight! Nothing tastes better than soft serve ice cream on a warm summer evening! Yumm!
~~Robin

RAK from Claudia

It's Sunday, and around our house that means, church, lunch and a nap!~

So, now that I've done all three, I wanted to post this beautiful card for you to see. No, I didn't make it, (if only!) my stamping friend Claudia Perry did. Isn't it beautiful?

Earlier this month, she did me a HUGE favor and stamped some images for me to use in a special birthday card for my hubby. Not only did she send them to me within hours of me making the request, she included this beautiful card with them. I was just stunned and thrilled! What a special treat and what a special friend!

Thanks again, Claudia - you rock!

Have a great Sunday everyone! Go enjoy some ice cream with your family - Summer is almost over!

~~Robin

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch #SSC113

Here we are once again on a Saturday morning and you know what that means - another fun sketch challenge from Stamping 411! I am super excited to show you my creation today because it uses some sneak peek items from the New Holiday Mini Catalog that starts September 1st! Have you scheduled your party with me yet? If not, you need to - there is a fabulous Hostess Offer that starts on September 1st and I am sweetening the deal! You'll just have to contact me to find out how!

Now, on to today's card! This sketch is so versatile, you can use just about any image with it and have it turn out lovely. I've chosen one of my favorite new stamp sets from the Mini Catalog, Beary Best Friends. I've used the little girl bear because, well, I have a little girl and I WISH she still wore sweet little dresses like this one! LOL! Now it's just Aeropostale and American Eagle for her! Can you relate? :)

I've stamped her in Black Staz-On ink on Whisper White cardstock and then again on to a piece of Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper. I used my Paper Snips to cut out just the dress, notice I cut around the collar, so the white shows through for extra sweetness! This little cutie was then colored in with my Aqua-Painters and ink refills. I used Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa. The flower and shoes were colored in with Stampin' Write Markers in Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black.

This piece was mounted on layers of Old Olive and Pale Plum and I put Stampin' Dimensionals in each corner so it would pop up above the ribbon and other layers. Those two layers are Old Olive cardstock that was edged with the Eyelet Border Punch and another piece of the Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper. The ribbon I've used here is also coming out in the New Mini Catalog next month and is the Old Olive Taffeta from the Mistletoe Collection. The card base itself is Pale Plum cardstock in a standard folded card size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

For the greeting, I used yet another new stamp set Beary Nice Wishes and stamped that in Basic Black ink across the bottom left corner, following the sketch. You'll notice that I covered the stamped heart with one punched out in Rich Razzleberry cardstock with the Heart to Heart punch. It is mounted with a piece of Stampin' Dimensional highlighted with Crystal Effects to make it shine! And for a little extra gleam, I added Crystal Effects to the shoes to make the Black Patent Leather and again to the flower in her fun (hair!).

I just love everything about this card and I hope you do too! The new Build-A-Bear Collection coming out next month is simply adorable and I can't wait to show you all of it. There are Big Shot Dies to cut out bears and clothing, cute Designer Series Paper and of course the stamps themselves. We are going to have too much fun playing with our bears!

We at the Stamping 411 blog love it when you play along with our sketches, so be sure to find time to make your card before Wednesday and use Mr. Linky to post your creation. You can find the link on the Stamping 411 blog. If you post to Splitcoast Stampers, be sure to put SSC113 in the title of your card.

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm posting a special RAK card tomorrow from one of my stamping friends, so come back and check out her beautiful work!

Stamped Hugs to you all!

~~Robin

Bloggers Challenge - Punches and Dies!

Happy Friday stampers! I am so glad it's Friday - what a week it's been - have you had one too? Yep, I know, you need some stamping therapy! So after you check out my post today, send me an e-mail and tell me you're coming to stamp with me tomorrow morning at the Just Cards class. There is still plenty of room, but I need to cut supplies for you, ok?

For today's Blogger's Challenge, we had to use Punches and/or Dies. Well, I ended up using both to make this card, and I am SO happy with how it turned out.

I started out by cutting my Whisper White card base (which was folded in half) with the Scallop Square Die in my Big Shot. I created this wonderful size notecard that still fits in our envelopes!

Then I took out my NEW Night and Day Designer Series Paper which is coming in the Holiday Mini Catalog on Sept. 1st. I chose a pattern that reminded me of fashion - don't know why, but this piece did. I cut a piece and layered it onto a piece of Basic Gray cardstock and rounded all the corners with the Corner Rounder Punch. This was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Basic Black cardstock that I rounded the corners on also.

The ribbon - which is also a sneek peek of the Mistletoe Ribbon Pack in the Holiday Mini (I'm using the other ribbon on tomorrow's project, so check back to see, ok?) is simply wrapped around the Gray and DSP layer and adhered to the back.
My greeting is stamped from the Great Friend stamp set which is one of my favs - I use it all the time! I colored the stamp with Real Red and Basic Black Stampin' Write Markers and once it was stamped on Whisper White cardstock, I punched it out with the Curly Label Punch.
The Real Red layer is actually a leftover from this project here. I made 60 of those cards for a swap at convention with the Movers and Shapers Die and the Big Shot. The red piece is the 'hole' from the donut, so to speak. (Can you tell I'm eating breakfast as I type this? LOL!)

It's slightly bigger than the white punch out and makes a great layer - don't you love no waste?

Once I mounted it with Stampin' Dimensionals to the card front, I used my Mat Pack and Paper Piercer to punch two holes next to it and added Silver Brads for an accent. It makes the card kind of say 'uptown chic' to me.....or not, but whatever, I still like it!

For a last little touch, I stamped the butterfly from this stamp set in Real Red on the inside of the card. I've also included a picture of my inspiration for this size card - a RAK from my friend Gretchen Barron. She sent me this little card in a recent swap we did and I just loved everything about it!

So, now that you've seen what I did with Punches and Dies, go check out the other creative stampers by clicking on the link in my sidebar. You will be so inspired by their creations!

Have a blessed day!

~~Robin

Go-Divas Do it Again!

One of the fun things about being a demonstrator is getting to swap or trade cards, projects and ideas with other super talented demonstrators. Honestly, it's where I get some of my best ideas from the creativity of others around me. That's the whole idea of CASING - what we call Copy and Share Everything or CASE for short.

After convention two years ago, I decided to put together a group of stampers whose talent and creativity I greatly admired and as time passed, we have grown to a group of 30 stampers. We even have a waiting list! I never would have believed that! Anyway, we are called the Go-Divas because of a certain person's love for all things Chocolate - get it - GoDivas, Godiva...... Ok, so you get it! The photo below is just 7 of this very talented group (and me too, I'm in the picture with them) who met at convention this year to swap a Small 3-D item.

They are L to R Top Row: Becky Morris, Kelly Taylor, Gretchen Barron and Jane Allison;

L to R Bottom Row: Yvette Sanchez, Selene Kempton, Me and Tiffany Bauer.

Yep - a VERY talented bunch of stampers - and my friends too!

Today I'm posting their swaps for you to ogle and drool over, no details, but if you want info, feel free to contact me, ok? You already saw mine while I was at convention, it is at this post here.

Christmas Note Card Pouch by Yvette Sanchez (there really are 4 cards with envelopes in each pouch!)

ScrapBoard Clipboard by Tiffany Bauer
(This will proudly display my photo with my Go-Divas!)

Layered Paper and Crystal Effects Wearable Art by Selene Kempton
(Amazing and time consuming technique!)

Candy Treat Pouch (with Dove chocolate!) and Gum Wrapper by Kelly Taylor
(We can always count on Kelly for something Pink!)

Halloween Acetate Treat Pouch by Jane Allison (yes, she embossed and HAND CUT all of those bony guys!)

Lollipop Treat Holder by Becky Morris

(It's too cute to eat!)

Envelope Scrapbook Purse by Gretchen Barron

I have posted both outside and inside views for you and it still does not do it justice. Gretchen does have a tutorial on her blog if you want more information.

(She really did make 8 of these! - Amazing!)

And here are my GoDivas acting as the Divas they really are! Love you guys bunches!

I hope you enjoyed seeing all their fabulous projects today, these ladies are Rock Stars in my book and inspire me everyday!

Be sure to check back tomorrow - I have my Blogger's Challenge project all ready to go for you, it's got a couple of sneak peeks for you from the New Mini Catalog that comes out on September 1st. You won't want to miss it!

Love and stamps to you all,

~~Robin

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch #112

Yes, I did read my calendar and YES, I know it's Wednesday - BUT, I didn't get my card done for the Stamping 411 Design Team before I left for vacation, so I HAD to finish it! KWIM?

So, here is the awesome sketch from our Sketch Queen, Selene Kempton.

And here is my interpretation:
As you can see, I took a few liberties with the layout, but the sketch is supposed to be a starting point for our creativity. We don't always have to follow the layout exactly - that's the fun part of making a project your own!
My focal point is this poor little sick doggie from the NEW stamp set, Wellness Wishes. I just had to have this stamp set when I saw it in the new catalog and the best part was that I didn't have to buy it - I earned it FREE from Stampin' Up! because of my sales total last year! Yippee! I LOVE free stamps!
Anyway, I cut the Whisper White cardstock at 2" x 2" square and then cut the mats at 1/4" larger for each. I used Old Olive and So Saffron there.
The little doggie was stamped in Black Staz-On ink and colored in with Stampin' Write Markers: Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom, So Saffron and Real Red for the bursting thermometer! I added the red splash with the fine tip to show you just how sick this little guy is!

The white cardstock was sponged with a bit of Old Olive ink and adhered to the two layers with SNAIL. I then mounted it with Stampin' Dimensionals to the card base.
The card base itself is a half piece of 8 1/2" x 11" Close to Cocoa cardstock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and folded in half to make a card sized at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I sponged all around the edges pretty heavily with Close to Cocoa ink to give it some texture and depth.
The two long layers are Old Olive Patterns Designer Series Paper cut at 2" x 5 1/2" and So Saffron cardstock cut at 2 1/4" x 5 1/2". I added a piece of Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon to the left of the focal point and wrapped the open end around these two layers. It's adhered to the back with SNAIL.

Now, for the best part - TIFFANY, I hope you are reading this! I used the STAMP-A-MA-JIG to add the corner greeting on the bottom right corner. Now, to some of you this may not be a big deal, but most of you who know me, know that I stamp by the seat of my pants most of the time and have pooh-poohed the use of said Stamp-a-ma-jig. However, I have come to realize that SOMETIMES you just have to get things in the exact place and for that you NEED the Stamp-a-ma-jig! (I can't believe I just confessed that! LOL!)
Anyway, the greeting I used comes from a NEW stamp set called Beary Best Wishes that's coming out in the Holiday Mini Catalog on September 1st. It's actually part of the NEW Build-A-Bear collection Stampin' Up! has created in partnership with them. (There are even Big Shot Dies!)
The greeting actually says "Hope You're Better BEARY Soon.", so I had to remove the
BEARY for this card since there is no bear on it. AND since I used the STAMP-A-MA-JIG to position it correctly, it really was a snap to do that. I used Chocolate Chip ink to stamp it in on the Old Olive DSP.

To finish up the card, I made two little circle accents out of So Saffron cardstock with the 1/2" Circle Punch. I punched a hole for the Vintage Brad with the 1/16" Handheld punch and mounted both of the circle accents with a Stampin' Dimensional.
I thought it turned out pretty cute and as it turns out, I now have a friend to send it to! We discovered yesterday that a member of our Design Team, Gretchen Barron and her daughter both have the Swine Flu and are very sick. So, please say a prayer for both of them that they recover quickly~!

Have a wonderful day everyone and be sure to check back tomorrow, I'm finally back in the saddle and will have pictures from Convention and some creative projects to post for you this week!

Stamped Blessings,

~~Robin

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