Sunburst Christmas

I made a commitment to myself in July that I would post here everyday. I started out really well, then life got in the way, and again, and again. Happens to all of us, right?

All weekend I kept thinking, "Monday is October 1st." Not so! So, I'm officially making the commitment again, that you will see a daily post from me Monday-Friday. Who says a commitment has to start on the first day of the month?

I have a Christmas Card Buffet on Saturday, so I've been prepping lots of Christmas cards. I tried out the Sunburst (or Starburst) technique that is shown on page 110 of Stampin' Up!'s 2013-2014 Annual Catalog.

Not only are the Designer Series Paper Stacks perfect for matting your photos for scrapbook layouts, and layering on card fronts, but they are also perfect for this technique. I will be posting directions and a video in the near future demonstrating this technique.

You are welcome to join us for the Card Buffet this weekend. Just email me at stampin_dj@ymail.com for the details. If you are not local, or unable to make it, I do have to go options for the cards.

Friday Favorites

It's Friday, time to celebrate! That also means I made it through my first week back from vacation; which isn't hard. I love my job and have a great group of coworkers!

Friday Favorites over at Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration mean that we're supposed to share our current favorite. It can be a product, technique, etc.

I bet you can't guess what my favorite product is right now.

Did you say glitter? Well you are half right. Heat and Stick Powder is the other half of the answer.

I have a small confession here. I know that I bought the Heat & Stick Powder in my first year as a demo because we had flocking and I got it to use with the flocking. I never used it! I've had this same container of Heat and Stick Powder for approximately 9 years. I had no idea if it would work, but I wanted glittery snowflakes, so I thought, "hey, I'll try it." It still works! That is proof of Stampin' Up!'s quality products right there!

If you've never used the Heat & Stick Powder, or are wondering what I'm talking about, here are the details and some tips. It is a powder adhesive that becomes sticky when heated to hold your glitter.
Stamp your image in Versamark, apply the Heat & Stick just like other embossing powders. Shake of the excess. Heat with Heat Tool just until it starts to "melt." Sprinkle glitter on. Shake off excess glitter (carefully! It's glitter, it goes everywhere!). Heat again to set. After it cools, you can brush off the rogue specks of glitter still hanging around.
I strongly recommend used the Embossing Buddy on your cardstock prior to stamping. Otherwise you will end up with rogue Heat & Stick and glitter stuck in places you don't want them.

Here's my challenge to you for the weekend: Pull out a product that you've bought and never used and make a fabulous project with it! Also, don't forget to check out what other fabulous creations the other designers have for us today!

Christmas cards

I know none of us want to think about it, but Christmas is getting closer. We're only 93 days away!
You can check out some fun facts about Christmas cards over at the Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration post today.

I am hosting a Christmas Card Buffet on October 5th, which is World Card Making Day. This card is one of the options that participants will be able to choose from.

This card is quick and easy to mass produce. It uses DSP from the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack cut with the Festive Flurries framelits. The colors are Real Red and Coastal Cabana.
The Season's Greetings is from More Merry Messages. You may have noticed that it's not in any of the current catalogs. Good news though, you can still order it! It's part of the carryover list.

My favorite part of this card is the corner detail. I was very sad when Stampin' Up! retired the ticket corner punch. Tonight it hit me, I can use the 1/2" Circle Punch to get the same effect! I'm excited that I finally figured this out.

I would love to have you join me at the Card Buffet on October 5th. Please email me at stampin_dj@ymail.com for more details.

Make sure you go to the SSInkspiration blog to see the other designers inspiration.

Washi Tape

Happy Friday! Any big plans for the weekend? I'll be selling all of my retired product at a vendor booth at a benefit scrapbook crop this weekend. Of course, I'll also be working on new cards!

Today our focus over at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration is Washi Tape! I love washi tape, how about you?

I love the versatility of the Witches' Brew washi tape. You might have seen it and thought "Halloween." I think this birthday card would be great for an "edgy" teenage girl. I softened it up with the glitter on the chevron.

My favorite part is the skull and crossbone butterfly. A little hard and soft all in one. Describes most teens, right? Remember, that cute bitty butterfly punch is on sale this month when you pair it with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set!

Be sure to head over the the SSInkspiration blog to see some other fabulous ideas for your favorite Washi Tape!

	132156		Designer Washi Tape Witches' Brew			$4.95
	127749		Big Shot TIEF Chevron			$7.95
	132205		Stampin' Glitter Gold & Silver			$7.95
	129406		Bitty Butterfly Punch			$15.95
	100425		Glue Pen 2-Way			$4.50
	126959		Classic Stampin' Pad Wild Wasabi			$5.95
	132723		Bundle Wood Label Love			$34.75
	108641		Card Stock 8-1/2" x 11" Wild Wasabi			$6.95
	105126		Card Stock 8-1/2" x 11" Elegant Eggplant			$6.95
	111349		Card Stock 8-1/2" x 11" Tangerine Tango			$6.95
	100730		Card Stock 8-1/2" x 11" Whisper White			$8.50
	121044		Card Stock 8-1/2" x 11" Basic Gray			$6.95

Build A Banner

Today is my individual post for the design team over at SSINKspiration. I'm extra excited for this one.

Here is a sneak peek:

You'll have to head on over to the INKspiration blog to see the rest of it and read my story behind creating it. Also, if you are local to me, make sure you come down to Quartermania tonight, where you can see it in person!

It's Framelits Friday!

I'm excited for many reasons today. It's my last day of work before vacation! Normally I'm not a big "take a week of vacation" sort of girl, but I'm looking forward to hanging with the hubby for a week with no plans. If we want to stay home, great; if we decide to drive somewhere, great! The other reason I'm excited is that it's Framelits Friday over at SSInkspiration!

I got the inspiration for this card from a recent copy of Stampin' Success, a publication that Stampin' Up! mails to demonstrators every other month, with business tips, ideas, and more! I loved how the artist had used the framelits to "frame" her focal point.

 

In the catalog, the Tape It set didn't catch my eye. However, I kept seeing cute projects with it, and knew I had to have it. Instead of using DSP for my pattern, I knew the Tape It set would make a great focal point. I used the Stamp-a-majig to line up the images so they didn't overlap or have a big gap between them. I used the Labels Collection framelits to make my frame. 

I used the thank you from A Round Array stamp set. Of course, I had to use the butterfly from Papillon Potpourri. (Remember, you can get Papillon Potpourri and the Bitty Butterfly punch for 15% off this month only!) As I don't have the Elegant Butterfly punch that coordinates with the larger butterfly, I "fussy" cut it with my Paper Snips. The snips made it really easy and quick to cut out. 

I felt the card needed a little something else, so I wanted to add some baker's twine. Listen to the voice of experience, reinkers in the spritzers without rubbing alcohol mixed in is a bad idea. Even just mixing with water doesn't work the best. I will say that I love the outcome, but I made a mess of myself that day at the scrapbooking crop! (My knees looked like they had chicken pox). 

Colors used: Cajun Craze, Wild Wasabi, and Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede.

Here's your last bit of Friday humor. My adorable {read: pure evil} cat Abby decided that she wanted to try to eat the butterfly before I took the picture. Thankfully I caught her before she left teeth marks. 

It's a good thing she's cute!

Be sure to check out the fabulous framelit inspiration the other ladies have provided us with today as well over at SSInkspiration! There are some over the top cute ones today!

Great deals in Clearance Rack!

(If you're here from the blog hop, that post is right below this one!)

Typically I don't post twice in one day; but today I had to make an exception! Stampin' Up! just added some recently retired products to the Clearance Rack, and OH MY, the savings!
You can order these by going to my website: http://stampindj.stampinup.net and clicking on the Shop Now link at the top of the page.

Here are my top 5 favorite items that were just added today.

Who doesn't love polka dots?

My all time favorite fabric, makes me smile just to see it!

I used this ribbon in almost every color. Very versatile too, if you don't want the polka dots, flip it over!

CLOUDS!

These buttons are very striking on any project. 

There was also quite a bit of cardstock, ink pads, and a few punches added. These items will go fast!

Anniversary Patterns

Thank you so much for joining us for the September Stylin’ Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! This month we are focusing on the tools of the stampin’ trade. Specifically, each of our favorite stamping tools. It’s amazing the kinds of tools that have been created to help us along in our paper-crafting addictions.  This month’s blog hop will showcase many of the Stampin’ Up! tools that are now available to us in the 2013-2014 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Holiday Catalog and even a couple of products that are so new they aren’t in either catalog. We hope you enjoy seeing how we use the old and new tools and are inspired to come up with some great projects of your own.

You should have just left stop number 4 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – Dawn B. of Dawn's Creative Chalet. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

My card uses three of my favorite, and most used, tools: Big Shot, Heat Tool, and Simply Scored.

The Modern Medley Designer Series Paper that I used in the center works well for anniversary and wedding cards because the whole pack of DSP is all Basic Black and Very Vanilla patterns. As 99% of Stampin' Up!'s DSP is double-sided, I love using the Simply Scored Tool with the Diagonal Plate to score even fold lines to showcase both sides of the DSP on my cards.

I was going to use the polka dot pattern, but when I laid it out, the card screamed "PROM," which was not the them I was obviously going for. This pattern felt more appropriate, and coordinates well with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder which I used with the Big Shot.

The "happy anniversary," embossed in black, is from my most used greeting set: Express Yourself. This is a set that can be purchased with hostess dollars only. In my opinion is was definitely worth the "investment" of my free dollars, and definitely a reason for you to host a party with your demonstrator, so you can get one for yourself!

The colors on this card are Basic Black and Elegant Eggplant. I bet you're not surprised to see candy dots on a card I made, are you?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll continue hopping and head over to Pamela's blog next.
Make sure to stop by tomorrow when I'll be featuring a Framelits Friday card featured over at SSInkspiration, inkspiring you 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year!




Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
3. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
4. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
5. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
6. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
7. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
8. Justin K. of JK Cards
9. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
10. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper
11. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
12. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana
13. Jennifer C. of Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
14. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
15. Kristina M. of Mama's Sanity

September Card Sketch

It's the second Monday of the month, so that means it's time for our monthly card sketch challenge over at the Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration blog. I love the sketch that Breelin designed for us this month.

 My take on the sketch

As you can see, I did a fairly literal interpretation of the sketch. I mirrored the hexagons because I thought it made more sense for the words I was using. Turns out after discussing it with my husband and a couple friends that I showed the card to, everyone reads it differently than me. Perhaps I should have left the hexagons in the same pattern as the sketch!

I used Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, and Naturals Ivory cardstocks, in addition to the Early Espresso Core'dinations cardstock. The stamp sets include Six-sided Sampler, Fabulous Phrases, and Papillon Potpourri (which is on sale with the small butterfly punch this month!) I love the look of the Hexagon embossing folder with the core'dinations cardstock, and sanded it down a little to show more of the inner color. I felt the card needed a little something more, so I added the Old Olive ribbon and bow. Three Rich Razzleberry Candy Dots finished this card for me.

So, what is your opinion; should I have moved the words around, or does it make sense to you after seeing the sketch? Please comment below.

I hope that you will check out how this sketch inspired others over at the Inkspiration blog. We would love to have you play along with us as well! Create your own card inspired by this sketch, post it to your website, and then use Mr. Linky over on the Inkspiration blog post to link up with ours.

See you Thursday for our monthly blog hop.