Jentimko – Page 145

ColorLab 30 – Happy Birthday!

February 24, 2011 Jentimko 10 Comments

Spring is in the air…at least over at the ColorLab Challenge this week. It was even in the air for a while here in Virginia but winter decided to make a return. Oh well, soon enough I’ll be planting my garden! Take a look at the wonderful colors we have for you:

Around this time of year, whenever I see pink and green as a color combination I think of cherry trees. I LOVE cherry trees! I have one in my front yard and it is spectacular when it blooms. In fact, the blooms on my tree are pretty much Pink Pirouette. With that on my brain, there was no avoiding the fact that I had to pull out my retired Branch Out set. It is one of the all time great sets, in my humble opinion!

It is so easy to give the “cherry tree effect” with this. I inked up the tree in Crumb Cake, the stamped on the leaves in Wild Wasabi and Pink Pirouette. The Crumb Cake patterned paper might look familiar since it is from the recently retired Deck the Halls DSP. The bow is my first attempt at Sharon Field’s Double Loop Bow Method. While I do like the end result, trust her when she says to start with a wider ribbon (Satin Ribbon would be my suggestion). This has a different look than my typical double loop bows and I think it is pretty for this card.

You want to know who this birthday card is for??!! It is for Stampin’ Addicts, one of my very favorite sites!! They are celebrating their 2nd birthday and I am participating in a virtual card shower. You can see some other fabulous birthday wishes on the Virtual Card Shower Thread. But just wait, starting tomorrow (Feb 25th) there is a Techniques Blog Hop to continue the birthday celebration. You won’t want to miss it!!

Stamps: Branch Out (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Deck the Halls DSP (retired); Ink: Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi; Accessories: Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

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Sweet Summer Photo Book

February 23, 2011 Jentimko 13 Comments

As promised in yesterday’s post, I am here with some more specifics on the Sweet Summer Photo Book.

I started this with the tutorial posted by the talented Sarah Wills for her Scallop Square Die Mini Scrapbook. I used the same method as for her smaller version but changed measurements a bit. My goal was to be able to make this using 8.5″ x 11″ paper. I am going to give some of the basic measurements here and, using Sarah’s fantastic instructions, you will probably be able to figure this out. However, I am also creating a Word Document tutorial and will be happy to e-mail it to you. Simply leave a comment requesting it and I’ll get it out to you as soon as possible (I don’t know how to link it here…sorry). Yes, you club members don’t need to let me know…yours will be out the minute it is finished.

I started with On Board Chipboard Sheets cut 4″ square. The Tabletop Paper Cutter is really great for this! Cut 4 pieces of Baja Breeze Card Stock 4″ square. These will cover the chipboard. As noted on Sarah’s tutorial, make sure you leave one side of one piece of chipboard uncovered for ribbon attachment. I cut 3 pieces of Soft Suede Card Stock to 3 5/8″ square. Two of these are the “attachment points” for the center sheet and one is to decorate the front. Cut one piece of Crumb Cake Card Stock to 3 1/2″ x 10 1/2″. Score this Crumb Cake piece at 3 1/2″ and 7″. The rest of the decoration is really up to you.

Since I designed this for my club members, I wanted to leave them maximum flexibility. I made the pages so that you can add only one picture on the front side and one on the back or add two pictures to both sides or any variation. What I found works best is to size your picture first (you don’t want to cut off any of those precious details). Measure your picture and add 1/8″ all around for your frame.

I used Sticky Strip on all the connection points that are likely to get stressed. Let’s face it, once Grandma has this, it is going places with her! The first version I made with Funky Four already has the Grandmom (my mom) seal of approval!

Once the photo section is attached and the front decorated, attach your ribbon to the back of the chipboard (this will still be undecorated!!). You can align the ribbon with the front of your card if it matter for your design. Once the ribbon is in place, glue on the final piece of Baja Breeze. I used the Anywhere Glue Stick to attach the card stock to the chipboard. I like that it allows you a little time to position the paper and then sticks perfectly.

I personally think that the success of this project comes in using Stampin’ Up’s beautiful designer papers. In this I have used Elegant Soiree and the coordinating pieces work wonderfully together. I also love that the style of the Sale-a-bration set Sweet Summer matches this paper. Another well thought out combination!

Thanks for coming back by for the details today. I’ll see you tomorrow with a new ColorLab Challenge. Also, this weekend I will be participating in a birthday celebration for one of my favorite sites, Stampin’ Addicts. We are doing a Techniques Blog Hop starting on Friday! It is a birthday bash extraordinaire! Until then…have a great week!

Stamps: Sweet Summer (SAB), All Holidays; Paper: Elegant Soiree DSP, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Ink: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze; Accessories: On Board Sheets, Sticky Strip, Anywhere Glue Stick, Crumb Cake Seam Binding (inside decoration), Very Vanilla Taffeta, Stamp-a-ma-jig

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SU Only Challenge 13 – Joie

February 22, 2011 Jentimko 7 Comments

Over at SU Only Challenges we are celebrating our favorite time of the Stampin’ Up year!! Sale-a-bration!!! Truly, the only thing better than new stamps is getting new stamps FREE. I actually had a hard time choosing which of my SAB sets to use for this challenge but decided I wanted to show you something you might have missed. If you look at the bottom of each SAB set with words, you get a choice of language.

So as you look at this card and think, that looks like Bliss…it is…except in French! I felt like “Joie” was a phrase I could find lots of uses for and this set has a French feel to me. One of the best things I am finding with this set (especially in combination with the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder) is that a simple layout is best. I stamped the flourish in Early Espresso and then put Joie in a place that felt like a continuation of the flourish. Even with using a clear mount stamp, my Stamp-a-ma-jig was pulled out to make sure it was just right! I inked up the butterfly in Baja Breeze and added some Early Espresso to the edges of the stamp with a sponge dauber. After stamping, I cut it out and sponged a little more Espresso on the cut edges. Additional sponging in Early Espresso was done on the image panel and on the embossed layer. I used the thread pulling technique on the Baja Breeze Seam Binding.

Hint: I find this works best if you simply leave the ribbon on the roll and pull the thread until you have enough scrunched ribbon.

The balance was a little off so I started looking at buttons and brads. You know what I found??!! This particular Antique Brad has a flower on it that is almost identical to the flower in Bliss/Joie. And this, my friends is why Stampin’ Up products make me so happy!! The type A personality in me knows that these items simply work….beautifully!! This free set has just as much thought put into its design as any catalog set. The attention to detail speaks for itself!

I wrapped the brad around the ribbon and attached it to the card with Mini Glue Dots. Finally, I realized that Basic Pearls were “required” to complete the card. The different sizes on the sheet really do make them a joy to use! I attached one wing of the butterfly with Mini Glue Dots and let the other stay loose. Finally, I popped the image panel up on Dimensionals.

This is the very first card I have made with this set but I think this will be a go-to set for a while! Shelli Gardner, Stampin’ Up’s CEO, has a challenge on her blog this month for Sale-a-bration projects. This card definitely qualifies so I am putting my name in the hat with it.

Because I couldn’t quite make up my mind which project to feature today, I want to share this mini photo album with you too. I had so much fun making the project for the Stampin’ Addicts SAB Blog Hop, I made another version using the SAB set, Sweet Summer. I’ll post more details tomorrow since I changed the measurements on this one.

Thanks for stopping in today. I can’t wait to see your Stampin’ Up Only projects using the SAB offerings. Make sure you post them over at the SUO Challenge site! Don’t forget to go see the fabulous things made by the rest of the SUO Challenge design team. I hope you have a really great week!

Stamp: Joie (French Bliss – 123242); Paper: Baja Breeze (111342), Early Espresso (119686), Naturals Ivory (101849); Ink: Baja Breeze Marker (120965), Early Espresso Pad (119670); Accessories: Baja Breeze Seam Binding (122331), Antique Brads (117273), Basic Pearls (119247), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Dimensionals (104430), Sponge Daubers (102892), Big Shot (113439), Framed Tulips Embossing Folder (121809)

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ColorLab 29

February 16, 2011 Jentimko 18 Comments

Razzleberry…hmmmm….what to do with Razzleberry?? This week’s ColorLab Challenge colors were interesting to me. What do you think?

Now I must say that I love the idea of combining Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz since they are such sister greens so the Razzleberry became a little less intimidating. When I am a little stumped with one element of a card, I usually go find a good layout. For me, it helps me see what to do next. Sure enough, there is a great basic layout over at Stampin’ 411 – SSC190. Once I saw that I knew I wanted to use the Pear DSP from Greenhouse Gala for the bottom panel. Putting Old Olive behind it looked great so then I layered everything with Rich Razzleberry.

My image panel was completed last and I’ll admit this wasn’t the first panel created. I was making it way too hard!! I pulled out this wonderful flower from Friends Never Fade and inked it up with my Stampin’ Write Markers in the three challenge colors. I knew I was on to something! I added the phrase from Say It Simply (Occasions Mini) and was left needing one more element. Given that I rarely use Rich Razzleberry, I don’t have any Taffeta Ribbon in that color. But I can make any color I want!! I dampened a piece of White Taffeta Ribbon and inked up the ribbon using my marker. I then rubbed the color around a little to even it out.

Hint: Unless you want Razzleberry fingers all day, you may want to use a paper towel or protective gloves when handling the damp ribbon (ask me how I know!). For really saturated color, you may need to apply your ink twice.

Recently, I won some blog candy from Stampin’ Celebration and the little Olive clip was in my box of treasures. I am so happy that I could use it for this! I popped the image panel up on Dimensionals and I am happy with the result. This is why you should try color challenges especially when one of the colors is “out of your box”. You end up making a card you might never have considered. Since I used my markers on both the flower image and the ribbon, this qualifies for Stampin’ Royalty’s Mark It Up Challenge this week.

Glad to see you today. Make sure to check out the other fantastic work over at ColorLab. I hope to have something else ready to post this weekend but I’ll definitely be back next Tuesday with the next SU Only Challenge. See you soon!

Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Say It Simply; Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White; Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive; Accessories: White Taffeta Ribbon (dyed), Old Olive Library Clip (retired), Dimensionals

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Valentine-a-pa-looza!!

February 14, 2011 Jentimko 12 Comments

It was a busy weekend around my house. In typical style, I was working last minute on Valentine’s Day treats for my boys’ classes and their teachers. Not sure why but this always seems to be something I put off. I started out with the treats for the kids by pulling out an old set called Mini Messages. This is one that I bought early in my stamping life and never knew quite what to do with it. Inspiration hit and off I went!

I stamped the “my friend” script in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla and punched it out with a Large Tag punch. I then stamped the heart in Cherry Cobbler and cut it out. Yes, it would have been loads easier if I had used any of our large variety of heart punches but sadly, none live at my house (this WILL be fixed!!). The Extra-Large Tag Punch was used on Cherry Cobbler paper and I just had to assemble. I put some chocolate into Medium Cellophane Bags, punched a hole in the tags with a 1/16″ Circle Punch and tied them closed with Vanilla 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon. Easy and done!

Being a demonstrator has so many cool advantages and one was that we received a sample of the Love Impressions Rub-Ons as a free gift from Stampin’ Up! Before I went to work on cards for the teachers, I wanted to make two Valentine’s for my sweet sons. The front card is one of those. It uses the FTL127 layout which seemed perfect for this. There is absolutely no stamping on either of these cards. It is all rub-ons (even on the inside of the card)! I put the heart balloons on Whisper White card stock and cut them out so that I could pop them up on Dimensionals. The heart paper is from the Play Date DSP set. When I saw Stampin’ Celebration’s inspiration piece this week, I knew I’d use the XOXO balloon for it! Don’t forget to take a look at all the cool Valentine’s Day goodies they created!

Both of the cards here were used for my sons’ teachers (of course some treats were included for them too). All of these cards qualify for one of my favorite challenges, Stampin’ Royalty. Their SR#58 is Hearts, Hearts and More Hearts and that sums up my crafting this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by to see my crazy Valentine-a-pa-looza weekend results. I hope your day is a happy one!

Cards:

Stamps: None; Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Real Red, Play Date DSP; Ink: None; Accessories: Love Impressions Rub-ons (Occasions Mini), Dimensionals, Brights Buttons, Thread (non-SU)

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ColorLab 28

February 9, 2011 Jentimko 10 Comments

What a great set of colors ColorLab has for this week…just in time for your final Valentine’s Day cards!

These are such classic colors for the season but I went a little non-traditional. I didn’t use one of my heart images. Instead, I wanted to play with my new Sweet Summer set. I just love the flowers and all the little stamps that go with them! I saw the Friday Mashup Sketch for this week and knew that was just what I needed to get started.

I stamped my little flower and stem in Basic Black using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to perfectly align the stem. Even though I have the clear mount stamps, the Stamp-a-ma-jig is a great help when you want to stamp something “just so” (it was made for type A people like me!)! I pulled out the Real Red polka dots from my Play Date DSP (your prints from the Brights Paper Pack would be great here too). After I did a basic look at the layout, I colored the flower in Real Red and the stem in Crumb Cake using my blender pen.

Hint: When coloring on Very Vanilla or Whisper White, think like you are placing color with the Blender Pen instead of swirling on the color. If you want to really blend and mix colors, use Watercolor Paper instead.

The sentiment is from Short & Sweet, one of the best sentiment sets ever! I tied my bow and wrapped the ribbon around the DSP layer, popped the image up on dimensionals and done with the front. I didn’t take a picture of it but I used the little butterfly on the inside (colored red also), along with the “happy valentine’s day” sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I’ll be making a few more of these and I think they are perfect for teacher Valentine’s from my boys.

So glad you joined me today! I look forward to your creations with these colors and don’t forget to take a look at the other Color Chemists’ projects! See you soon!

Stamps: Sweet Summer (SAB), Short & Sweet, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Play Date DSP, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Real Red Wide Grosgrain, Blender Pen, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

SUO Challenge 12 – Stampin’ Around

February 8, 2011 Jentimko 17 Comments

Over at SU Only Challenges this week, we are “Stampin’ Around”!! Yes, we have pulled out our wheels and the variety of ideas is wonderful! Wheels can add dimension to your background or can be the focal image on your project!

I saw the coolest layout last week, designed by the very talented SU demonstrator Mary Fish, over at Mojo Monday. To start, the Very Vintage wheel was rolled on Very Vanilla paper in Soft Suede. I lightly colored some of the flowers in Blushing Bride and cut the curve with my Paper Snips. Vintage Vogue is a set that coordinates beautifully with this wheel so I pulled it out. I inked the flowers in Blushing Bride and the sponged a little Soft Suede on the edges with a Sponge Dauber. After I layed it out, something was missing so out came the Big Shot and my Framed Tulips Embossing Folder. What a difference!! I used my Stampin’ Write Marker in Soft Suede to only ink the “friend” part of the big F stamp and put it on a little banner. Finally, the ribbon needed to be finished. At first I tried just Very Vanilla Satin but it just wasn’t right. So I dyed it! Oh, no…it isn’t hard…really!! Take your piece of ribbon and color it using a Stampin’ Write Marker (Blushing Bride in this case). It will look a bit splotchy. Next take your Aqua Painter and wet the ribbon (a spray bottle would work too). The Aqua Painter will help you move the color around to make it even. Let it dry and you have perfectly coordinated ribbon.

Hint: I found that starting with a base color ribbon the same as my base color paper helped it match better. When you stamp a light ink on Very Vanilla it will take on a slightly different hue than if you stamp on Whisper White. Since I stamped on Vanilla paper for this, I used Vanilla ribbon as a base.

The Basic Pearls were the perfect finishing touch for this Vintage themed card! I love those little jewels and it is amazing how much they add. In fact, I stamped another little flower inside to card and added a pearl there to make the inside feel just as special as the outside.

I’m so glad to see you again and I look forward to seeing what your wheels create for this challenge! See you again soon!

Stamp: Vintage Vogue (117690); Wheel: Very Vintage (117693); Paper: Soft Suede (115318), Very Vanilla (101650); Ink: Soft Suede Classic Pad (115657), Blushing Bride Marker (In-Color Pack 119801); Accessories: Big Shot (113439), Framed Tulips Folder (121809), Very Vanilla Satin (117291), Basic Pearls (119247), Sticky Strip (104294), Aqua Painter (103954), Sponge Daubers (102892)

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First Edition Valentine

February 7, 2011 Jentimko 14 Comments

I got an order last week and I have been playing with my new products!! Oh what fun! Tonight is my 3rd Quarter Hostess Club Meeting and the club ladies will be making this. I can’t wait!! First things first, this card is a CASE from the very talented Debra Burgin over at Heartfelt Inkspirations. I knew I had to make it as soon as I saw it. In the effort to add my own touch, I did change the colors and the sentiment plus added a layer. My colors were inspired by this week’s Stampin’ Celebration piece…a great Valentine’s Day palette!

I pulled out my Framed Tulips Embossing Folder and my Big Shot and rolled the frame right onto the base. I then added Whisper White Craft Ink. I did not use a brayer like Debra did (although that would work, of course). Instead I used another technique that I will cover in an upcoming Stampin’ Addicts Birthday Blog Hop (Feb. 25th – Feb. 27th). I cut a section of the First Edition DSP that talks about Cherry Blossoms. Somehow that seemed appropriate with my use of Cherry Cobbler! The Be My Valentine heart was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and cut out (cutting off the banner) and I stamped the “valentine” from my Teeny Tiny Wishes “happy valentine’s day” stamp in Basic Gray on a 1/2″ strip of Very Vanilla and just snipped the corners. Aren’t Stampin’ Write Markers handy??!! The Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and Victoria Crochet Trim were tied together with dyed thread (again with a marker) and a Basic Gray Button. I used a barely inked flower from Fresh Cuts to add a little color to the First Edition paper.

Thanks to Debra for allowing me to CASE her. Be sure to take a look at her many beautiful creations using the link at the beginning of the post! I’ll be back tomorrow with the latest SU Only Challenge. I hope your day is great!

Stamps: Be My Valentine (122045), Fresh Cuts (111634), Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370); Paper: Cherry Cobbler (119685), Basic Gray (121044), Very Vanilla (101650), First Edition DSP (121878); Ink: Cherry Cobbler Classic Pad (119669), Basic Gray Marker (120966), Whisper White Craft Pad (101731); Accessories: Big Shot (113439), Framed Tulips Folder (121809); Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (120992), Victoria Crochet Lace (118481), Neutrals Buttons (119743)

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ColorLab 27

February 2, 2011 Jentimko 11 Comments

Snow, bad weather for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, cabin fever…I have the solution!! Bright, happy colors from ColorLab!! At least your little stamping corner will have sunny weather.

As you can see from my previous card, the weather was affecting my stamping mood. This color palette shook me right out of the icy colors. After spending so much time with Funky Four on last weekend’s Stampin’ Addicts SAB Blog Hop, you would think I’d be done with that set. But no…out it came again. I’m so excited that you can earn it FREE with your $50 order!! Of course, who can stop at just one of those free choices…believe me, I couldn’t. My own free sets should be arriving later today so you can expect to see projects with them next week.

Ok, I digress. Today’s card came together so quickly and is perfect for a little teacher note I need this week. All I had to do was stamp the leaf image in the three colors and pop on a sentiment from the Apple Blossoms Hostess Set. The striped paper is from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack. What a handy pack of paper to have!! I seem to be using it all the time. The final touch was a black button with a little bit of Peach Parfait thread. Just take a little bit of white thread and color it with your Stampin’ Write Marker. The sketch comes from the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge this week. I love the off-center panel and how it steps up a basic layout.

I can’t wait to see what you do with the colors this week! Don’t forget to go see what the other Color Chemists have concocted (say that three times fast). I’ll be back next week with a new SUO Challenge. Have a happy and safe weekend!

Stamps: Funky Four (120438-C), Apple Blossoms (Hostess-120139-C); Paper: Brights DSP Stack (117155), Basic Black (121045), Pear Pizzazz (119795); Whisper White (100730); Ink: Melon Mambo (121074), In Color Markers (119801), Basic Black (100082); Accessories: Neutrals Designer Buttons (119743), Thread (non-SU)

Fresh Birthday

February 1, 2011 Jentimko 19 Comments

I wanted a little change of pace from the “clean” cards I made for the blog hop last weekend. I must say that Funky Four pretty much demands a clean style. For today’s card, I pulled out a set that has been languishing in my stamp drawer for far too long…Fresh Cuts. I found yet another great sketch from the Operators at Stampin’ 411:

They really have a knack for a great layout! I, like many of you, have a stash of designer paper. When things retire, I hold on to my very favorites. One of the DSPs from last year that I just loved was Nouveau Chic. The colors are so pretty together and seemed to fit my stamping mood. Gray, icy, a little distressed…just like the view outside my window today.

As a starting point, I stamped the “background” image from Fresh Cuts in Sage Shadow (retired) and then stamped the leaf image in Basic Gray over it. After that I chose the papers for the panels and distressed everything. It was still missing something so I stamped the words and punched them out with my Large Oval Punch and put on a Scallop Oval base. Finally, I added some Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon using the scrunching technique and frayed the ends a bit.

Hint: Once you have distressed the edges of your designer paper, sponge some color on the edges to finish the look (Basic Gray used here).

So glad you were able to stop in today. I hope you are not adversely affected by the huge weather pattern crossing the U.S. today!! See you again on Thursday for another ColorLab Challenge.

Stamp: Fresh Cuts (111634); Paper: Nouveau Chic DSP (retired), Basic Gray (121044), Very Vanilla (101650); Ink: Sage Shadow (retired), Basic Gray (120966); Accessories: Basic Gray Taffeta (retired), Large Oval Punch (119855), Scallop Oval Punch (119856), Antique Brads (117273), Sponges (101610), Dimensionals (104430)

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