Photopolymer Stamps

Good morning!

The sun is finally shining again in KS, and I'm hoping that it will warm up quickly.

Have you tried the new photopolymer stamps from Stampin' Up! yet? I absolutely love them! They are completely clear so you can see where you're positioning them, and you're still getting they great quality image that we're used to from Stampin' Up! rubber stamps. Plus you can "manipulate" the images on your block, such as the making the banner from the Typeset stamp set curve.

The Designer Typeset  was the first set to come out. Many of the clients that I make graduation announcements for prefer that they year is on them, and this set is perfect for that. You can see from my recent Graduation post that I used this set on the card and the inserts. The time saving trick was that I was able to put 2013 on one block and stamp it once on each card instead of having to do each number separately like I used to!

Item # 132956
Price: $13.95

The newest photopolymer set, Bombs Away Birthday, was released this week. I can't wait to get my hands on this set. I'm a little sassy in daily life, so this is a set I see getting a lot of use out of!

Item # 133411
Price: $13.95

Both of these sets can be ordered through my online store at http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx. One heads up, they do have quite a "manufacturing" smell to them when you first receive them. Leave them out of their package for a few days and that smell wears off.

Graduation announcements

I just finished graduation announcements and BBQ inserts for a client this morning. I love making announcements for people because it makes me feel honored to be a small part of celebrating one of their major life accomplishments!

While I have weeded out most of my retired Stampin' Up! sets, there's a few I do keep around for client orders such as these. In particular, two alphabet sets and the calendar set used for the insert.
Here are individual pictures of each one:

Before assembling the announcement, I ran the base through my printer to print the announcement part on the inside. On the back of the insert is information detailing the BBQ celebration.

April Edition of Stylin' Stampin' Blog Hop

Welcome to our April blog hop! Are you just joining or did you hop over from Dawn's blog? I love all of her creations! This month we are using one of my favorite products: the silver glimmer paper! It's so shiny and adds a lot of pop to any project.

Today could have been classified as a craft room disaster; especially since I don't currently have a craft space. We are in the process of rearranging and organizing the entire house and things are in shambles. There are craft supplies in every room of the house except the bathroom (and if it were bigger, there might be some in there too). My husband walked in today and said, "Really?" when he saw that I had pushed the coffee table against the tv stand, cedar chest against the coffee table, and then set up my craft table between that and the couch. I merely looked at him and said, "hey, I needed a work space."

Despite a few hiccups and the fact that I still can't locate my Simply Scored or Paper Trimmer, I'm happy with the outcome of my wedding card. I find that I really enjoy making the clean and simple cards lately, which is a huge leap for me because I used to think "boring and plain" when I would find simple cards I made way back in the day. I was inspired for the colors of this card by a picture that a friend posted on Facebook the other day of a bouquet of flowers she had received that had some gorgeous orange flowers in it.

Supplies used:
Paper: Basic Grey, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer
Ink: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango
Stamps: Word Play
Punches: Blossom, 7/8" Scallop Circle
Embellishments: Old Olive Striped Organdy ribbon, Brights Designer buttons, Basic Rhinestone Jewels

Thanks for stopping by! Are you a clean and simple card maker, or do you prefer many layers and details? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. After you comment, be sure to hop on over to Pamela's blog and then finish the circle!



Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
5. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
6. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
9. Justin K. of JK Cards
10. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper
11. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
12. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana