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Stamp Review Crew – Wondrous Wreath

February 15, 2015 Jentimko 14 Comments

I am so excited to be a part of this amazing group of Stampin’ Up demonstrators! If you haven’t heard of “The Crew” yet, you are going to be so thrilled with this. We are here to show you the versatility of one stamp set every time we hop (the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month). We have a whole team of people and different stampers participate each time. Like you, we look to find ways to maximize our investments and the single focus on one set allows you to see all the possibilities! This week, our featured stamp is Wondrous Wreath. Let me repeat that…Wondrous Wreath. Yes, the one from the Holiday Catalog! Did you know it is on the Returning Favorites List in the Occasions Catalog? Good news if you missed it before in all the holiday madness!

If you just came over from the lovely Yapha Mason, I’m so glad you are here! If you want to see everyone who is hopping or if you get lost along the way, just click over to The Stamp Review Crew blog.

The best part about this stamp is the versatility! It is not just for Christmas, that is for sure! Just look at this adorable spring wreath and you can start to see how many variations you can make. I stamped the wreath in Whisper White Craft Ink and embossed it with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I added a sentiment from the Sale-a-bration set Simply Wonderful in the same way. Then using the Painted Blooms DSP suite, I added the embellishments. The Kraft card stock is cut to 3-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ and the striped DSP in the background is cut to 4″ x 5-1/2″. That allows a practical cutting pattern for the 12″ x 12″ DSP and you can get 6 of these from one sheet. Love that! I punched the little flowers out of some scraps of a flower print from the DSP (like the arrow from last week’s FMS card) and doubled them up for these cute add-ons. The Wild Wasabi twine is from the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine Pack and I colored the pearls to match with Blendabilities. Just take the middle green from the Old Olive blendies and color first. Then go back over the pearl with a touch of the darkest marker from the Soft Sky blendies pack. You can custom blend with these!! Oh how I adore this feature! The striped DSP is attached to a white base then the Kraft layer is up on Dimensionals. I attached the bow and the flowers using Crystal Effects as glue. Super secure and dries fast! Perfect for people like me with no patience!

I hope you like today’s card. Like you, I can’t wait to see all that the others have for inspiration! Hop on over to Rochelle Blok to continue on your way around. So glad you dropped in today. See you again soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Wondrous Wreath, Simply Wonderful; Paper: Painted Blooms DSP, Kraft; Ink: White Craft Ink, Blendabilities – Old Olive, Soft Sky; Accessories: Heat Tool, White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Basic Pearls, Painted Blooms Cotton Twine, Crystal Effects

You’re the Best

February 12, 2015 Jentimko 1 Comment

I had the privilege of going to a wonderful gathering of Stampin’ Up demonstrators last Saturday and wow was it fun! My friend Rose-Ellen Eastman puts on an event that mimics the style of Stampin’ Up corporate events and it is always a treat to go! She puts in a lot of work to make it happen. This time I offered to help by creating a Make-n-Take. Everyone seemed to like it and I hope you will too. I also got to make other designers’ projects as make-n-takes and thought it would be fun to share!

My card shows how easy it is to incorporate stencils into a cute design. I just love these little hearts from the Hearts and Stars Mask set. I sponged on Soft Sky ink with a sponge dauber. Then I punched a piece of the heart print from the Fancy Foil vellum and a piece of Soft Sky card stock using the Note Tag Punch. I tied the Painted Blooms Twine onto a Mini Metallic Clothespin and cinched the two tags together. The sentiment comes from the FREE Sale-a-bration set Simply Wonderful. How do you get that set?? Easy. Order the stuff used to make this card and you’ll have gifts that keep on giving in your craft stash. AND you’ll get to choose the free stamp.

Note Tag Punch
Painted Blooms Twine
Fancy Foil Vellum (Silver)
Hearts & Stars Mask
Mini Metallic Clothespins
Sponge Daubers
Stampin’ Dimensionals

All this together comes to $50.65 and then you just choose the stamp set for free. And all of these products can be used to make loads of other things!! AWESOME!

One of the best things about demonstrator events is that we, of course, just have to make things while we are together. This adorable little valentine treat bag was designed by the very talented Kim Fields for all of us to make. I was privileged enough to see her original design. Do to time constraints the twine was left off the project for the event (we made tons of stuff) but I could not resist adding it. So I brought my bag home and finished it here so that I could copy Kim’s version completely. Is this not totally fantastic??!!

Our hostess Rose-Ellen really outdid herself with other projects and I just had to show you another favorite. This adorable little lollipop holder was designed by her for us to make based on a project she saw at Leadership. What was that?? Yes, you DO still have time to make a few of these before the 14th!!

I hope these were worth the wait! If you have any questions about any of the projects, just drop me a note and I’ll be happy to get you the info. Want to participate in events like this one?? I’d love for you to join my team! Send me an email or simply click on the tab at the top for more info. Sale-A-Bration is such a great time to join and I’d love to have you take advantage of all the perks being a demonstrator can give!!

I’m so glad you stopped in today to visit. I’m working on a project for a blog hop next week and I can’t wait to show you. Until then, have a great day!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Simply Wonderful (SAB), Hello Life, Hey Valentine; Paper: Whisper White, Fancy Foil Silver Vellum, Stacked with Love DSP Pack, Basic Black, Real Red; Ink: Soft Sky, Momento Black, Blendabilities – Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie; Accessories: Note Tag Punch, Mini Metallic Clothespins, Painted Petals Twine, Hearts and Stars Mask, Sponge Daubers, Big Shot, Mini Gift Bag Thinlit, 2″ Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch, Heart Punch, Black Baker’s Twine, Stacked with Love Washi Tape, Scalloped Tag Punch, Happy Heart Embossing Folder, 1/8″ Real Red Taffeta Ribbon

Freshly Made Sketches #173

February 11, 2015 Jentimko 8 Comments

So a funny thing happened on the way to this week’s sketch. Like many design teams, our Freshly Made Sketches team has a separate blog where we can upload sketches and challenges cards early in order to make the weekly challenge happen. Kind of the magic behind of the scenes. The team loads in their latest sketches and I convert them to final form in My Digital Studio. Well, when Kim Singdahlsen uploaded her sketch, I got to work on getting it drawn. After I got everything done and loaded on the DT page, I looked at the sketch and it was crooked. Surely, I thought, I hadn’t mistakenly hit rotate?? Seriously?? So I went back to the sketch and no, I hadn’t. I pulled out a real straight edge and held it to my screen and yep, it is straight. So apparently Kim is so creative that she can not only concoct great sketches, she can invent optical illusions!!! We all know she is a card making genius and now we just know that she is a multi-faceted genius!

I started my card with the awesome new Painted Blooms DSP. Both the stripe print and the Daffodil Delight background paper are from that pack. Aren’t they pretty?! I love the ombre variation in the stripes! I decided to pair it up with a card out of the Project Life Everyday Adventure Kit. That awesome little notebook paper print goes perfectly with the DSP and I didn’t have to cut a thing. I stamped on the Watercolor Thank You stamp (a single) in Blackberry Bliss. Then I added an arrow punched with the What’s Up Punch out of a flower print from the Painted Blooms DSP. A Razzleberry button tied with Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine to finish. I just love the look of this card….clean but with a sense of fun.

And here is our funny optical illusion sketch for the week. I was relieved that the card itself didn’t take on the illusion of the sketch illustration!! Ok, you KNOW you want to check it yourself. Go ahead. The outside rectangle is straight, I promise!!

The team has some fun inspiration for you and I think you are going to have a ball with this one….again. I have to say (with only a little too much of a bragging voice) that the team has been on fire with the sketches lately! And the gallery has been incredible as a result. I am grateful for all the cool stuff I get to see every week as I see what you share.

Ok….so I have my make and take AND some cool samples from the Northern Virginia Regional Event I went to last week. I finally got some pictures and have them edited so I really will have them up tomorrow. Life just got away from me over the last couple of days and I could not seem to get the posts up. But I did teach some awesome kids in 6th grade about the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and did some other stuff for my boys. Like working on Valentine’s! I hope your week is going well and I look forward to having you stop in again tomorrow. Until then, have a great day!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Watercolor Thank You; Paper: Painted Blooms DSP, PLxSU Everyday Adventure; Ink: Blackberry Bliss; Accessories: What’s Up Punch, Button, Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine, Dimensionals

Celebrate

February 6, 2015 Jentimko 2 Comments

A quick and fun card for you today! This was a card for my husband’s birthday last week. Shaker cards are so great because they have an extra element of interest without being all “girly”. While I love a girly card for sure, around my house I have a need for cards that skew to the masculine side. I think this one hit the mark!

I used the Stacked with Love DSP Stack again. Love these prints! Again, interesting but not too feminine. I cut the frame out with the On Film Framelits and then cut a matching size out of the Window Sheets to fill the square. I stamped the sentiment from Fabulous Four in Stazon Black Ink. A little Black Baker’s Twine, a Cherry Cobbler Button and a fun bow (just like the one in my video tutorial from Wednesday). Then I added some leftover white sequins from my December Paper Pumpkin and attached the frame with foam tape. This is one of those cards that you could really tailor to the age and color preferences of the recipient.

Now….I’m off today to see my friend Rose-Ellen Eastman. She is hosting a Northern Virginia demonstrator event tomorrow and I can’t wait. I can’t wait enough that I’m going to go see what she is up to today. *smile* I’ll be back Sunday or Monday with one of the make and take cards from the event that I designed. Until then, I hope you have a great weekend. I appreciate you stopping in today!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: Fabulous Four; Paper: Whisper White, Stacked with Love DSP Pack; Ink: Stazon Black; Accessories: Black Baker’s Twine, Cherry Cobbler Button, Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Sequins, Foam Tape

Freshly Made Sketches #172

February 4, 2015 Jentimko 8 Comments

Well, didn’t I tell you that the sketch for this week at Freshly Made Sketches was great?! My friend Linda Callahan created this one for us and I love it. The minute she sent it to me I knew we had yet another winner on our hands. And we have so many cool variations this week from our team.

Have you ever had a technique that you’ve been wanting to try but somehow it keeps going to the back burner? That is how I felt about partial die cutting with letter thinlits. I know that there are products out there with certain words that create something like this but with this technique, you can use whatever word you want. The Little Letter Thinlit Dies are PERFECT for this one! I seem to have a bit of a theme going this week using the Stacked with Love DSP Stack. I find that crafting seems to go like that for me sometimes. I find something that works and I stick with it!! As I was starting to figure out how to explain this technique I realized it was just easier to make a video tutorial. So that is what I did!

As I said in the video, it took me a couple of tries to get the letters lined up just right so that I didn’t cut them out completely. I recommend you practice once or twice with scrap paper before going to your DSP. Having the thinnest held together with washi tape make it easy to repeat this and play with the idea. Once you get the cutting part, the rest is easy and quick.

I have another card ready to share with you on Friday that uses this great paper again. And then this weekend I’ll be going to a local demonstrator event and I’m sure I have fun things to share from there. I have helped design a card for the get-together and plan to share with you on Sunday. I seem to be getting back into the groove of stamping again and look forward to more this week. Until Friday, I hope you have a great week! Thanks for stopping in.

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Forever Florals (sentiment); Paper: Stacked with Love DSP Stack, Whisper White; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Big Shot, Little Letters Thinlits, Black Baker’s Twine, Buttons

Hello

February 2, 2015 Jentimko 1 Comment

I told you last Wednesday that I was working on a card trying to make it fit the sketch when I just had to abandon it and try another path. Well, I loved the FMS card I made but still needed to finish the one I was fighting with. So I thought I should share it with you today! Without the constraint of the sketch, I was able to just add a simple sentiment and not worry about the extra circle element.

Looks like Amy O’Neill and I were on the same wavelength for the sketch using the stars from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits on the Stacked with Love DSP pack papers. I used a little clip from the Basics Hodgepodge Clips to hold together the banners and the piece of Real Red Cotton Ribbon. The sentiment is from a retired set but seemed perfect to finish this off. Any number of current bold words could be used instead (Four You, for example)!

Quick post today. Off to the gym and then the grocery store. Yep….a big day planned. Hoping for a little stamping time too.

Back on Wednesday with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. We have a fun sketch from Linda Callahan this week. Until then, I hope your week starts off great! Thanks for stopping in!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: Simply Celebrate; Paper: Whisper White, Stacked with Love DSP Pack; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Real Red 1/4″ Cotton Ribbon, Basics Hodgepodge Clips, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, Big Shot

Fancy Friday – Fancy Flashback

January 29, 2015 Jentimko 4 Comments

I am so excited to share with you this month’s project with for our Fancy Friday monthly hop! If you just came over from the amazing Jeanna, welcome to the next stop. My friends and I want to be able to share with you our ideas in a monthly format. We will use different themes each month – sometimes colors, sometimes a sketch, sometimes a stamp set focus. The one thing you can count on is that it will be fancy! Over our year on the 2013 Artisan Design Team, “fancy” became our word to describe the best projects, the best new clothes, even the best pedicure colors. Now we want to share with you our take on “fancy” each month. This month our theme is “Fancy Flashback”! We are pulling some of our favorites our of retirement and showing you how they work with new products! A great stamp set is a gift that keeps on giving!

So one of my favorite stamp sets of all time is Branch Out. This is a set that can be used for almost any kind of card and never disappoints! I love it so much. And yet sadly it has languished in a stack for much too long. For those of you who shop on Ebay, you may have even seen this stamp selling for crazy prices. I wanted to see if I could make it look current and so I used it to create this super clean birthday card. All the focus is on the beautiful image!! Cards with white space are so popular now and a set like really shines. I stamped the tree in Soft Suede and then added leaves and flowers using Pear Pizzazz and Pink Pirouette. The tire swing is stamped in Momento Black (because this is the BEST black ink!) and so is the sentiment. The butterflies are Lost Lagoon and that color is really pretty with this palette. My sentiment is from a work horse set called Four You that is a must have.

I know what you are thinking… “Great Jen, I don’t have the set and I’m not willing to spend a billion dollars to get it. What do I do?” I have a solution that you will LOVE. In the latest Occasions catalog there is a new stamp set called Sheltering Tree. Wanna see??

So it has the tree, an adorable swing, replace the butterflies with a bike and…just look at that….add a sentiment from the same set! Yeah. I know. And, NOT a billion dollars, lol! All of these together are just $24.95 US. So cool!

Now we are supposed to pull out a throwback picture of ourselves. Hmmm……. I thought it would be fun to show you where my journey to the Artisan Team began in earnest. This is a picture from my first Stampin’ Up Convention. It is here that I got to know my second level supervisor, Lisa Curcio. Lisa and my upline Brandi were the ones that I told first about considering entering the Artisan competition. They, along with some of my local stamping friends gave me the courage to submit my projects. I cannot even give words to how grateful I am for their support and for the many, many gifts that Stampin’ Up has brought to my life.

I have some cards all ready for you over the next few days. I’ve been getting to work in the stamp room and hoping to get back into a better routine of posting. I’m so glad you stopped by today and I look forward to seeing again soon!

Okay, off to go visit the awesome Mercedes Weber! You will be wow’d, as always!

And you can click our logo above to get to the Fancy Friday Pinterest page!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Branch Out; Paper: Whisper White; Ink: Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, Lost Lagoon, Momento Black

Freshly Made Sketches #171

January 28, 2015 Jentimko 12 Comments

Don’t you love it when you see a sketch that has a classic feel? What makes something a classic?? Something that can be used over and over with different looks. And I think we have one for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches! No surprise when you see that it comes from the wonderful Rita Wright. I just love everything she has been making..so trendy…and this sketch will inspire a busy gallery for sure!

So I kind of went a different direction than the rest of the team. Is there such a thing as clean and shabby? Maybe that is the new CAS, lol! I got the new stamp set Butterfly Basics and could not wait another minute to ink it up! I love the pretty images and the fabulous sentiments! I stamped the honeycomb image twice with Crumb Cake ink and the sewed on some Crumb Cake Seam Binding (scrunched up) and Venetian Lace Trim. I inked the butterfly in Lost Lagoon. Don’t you love the lace look of that butterfly??!! Oh my goodness it is awesome! I added on a flower from the retired Flower Trim (but there is another version available in the new Occasions Catalog in the Artisan Embellishment Kit). In the background I splattered on some Crumb Cake ink with a paint brush and added the sentiment.

I had such fun putting this together. I had another card that I worked on much too long trying to make it fit with the sketch and when I gave in moving on to this stamp set….done in about 30 minutes. When I went over and saw the cards from the Design Team, I totally fell in love with them all. Yep…a classic sketch!

So we have had two “snow days” this week and my boys have been home from school (and mom has had limited stamping). Now snow days is a loose phrase since there is no actually snow left. We got about 1/2″. But I think my FMS friend Jen Mitchell got enough for me and the whole team so I’ll not roll my eyes too much. Still….the boys would have loved a little sledding. *smile*

Ok, hop right over to see what our amazing team has up for you this week and give a special thanks to Rita for the sketch that will keep on giving. I’ll be back on Friday with the monthly Fancy Friday hop. Until then, I hope your week is great!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Butterfly Basics; Paper: Naturals Ivory; Ink: Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon; Accessories: Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Venetian Lace Trim, Flower Trim (ret), Sewing Machine

Party Herd

January 26, 2015 Jentimko 1 Comment

Today is a pretty special day at my house! It is my youngest son’s birthday and wow what a light he is in our lives. This freshly minted 9 year old has a funny little sense of humor. He is just as likely to “shake his tail feathers” to music as he is to show his “skilz” at soccer or rock through some really hard math. It is because of him that I just had to get the new stamp set From the Herd. He loved it more than any stamp set he has seen so of course it came right here! It fits him so well!

Naturally I had to make him a card with it and I think I love the stamp as much as the birthday boy now! Just look at these hilarious little faces. I feel like the image does all the work so I needed a sketch that didn’t distract from it. I keep seeing offset layers and love the look so I went with it for this. I think that little pop of yellow has a big impact, don’t you?! Using my Paper Piercing Tool and the Mat Pack I added the details around the edges. This is another trendy look that I love. The coloring took a little bit of patience but I find it really fun to do. I’m so happy Stampin’ Up keeps adding on extra colors in their Blendabilities line so I can do work like this! The Baker’s Twine bow is the perfect final detail.

As soon as my son opened this, he got a big old grin and laughed. Exactly! That is what making cards is about. Knowing what will make someone smile. I hope this inspires you to pull out a set that makes YOU happy and stamp today.

My dear friend and second level team leader asked me to join her in a Creative Blog Hop Monday group. Lisa Curcio, of Lisa’s Stamp Studio, is such dear person and a talented demonstrator. I’m so proud of her many, many accomplishments but mostly proud to call her friend. So to keep up with the hop rules, I have to answer some questions:

What are you working on? Today, I’ll be working on some upcoming cards for Freshly Made Sketches. Also working to update my Stamps on the Fly program with fun, new projects.
How does your work differ from others in your genre? I think I can be called a “clean” stamper. Not always clean and simple (CAS) because some of my clean cards take a long time to make, lol. I find that clean cards require extra attention to detail since every element really matters. Also, balance on the card is important. I try to create things that are special and yet very makable for those who stamp with me!
Why do you create what you do? I create what I love. I am definitely a seasonal stamper in my color choices and I tend to go in phases on products I am using. Creating make me happy!
How does your creativity process work? It depends. Mostly, I love working with sketches. This shouldn’t surprise any of you who have followed me. I have a math brain and sketches resonate with me. I can “see” in sketches. As soon as I see one, I know what stamps can be used and the card builds from there. Sometimes though it starts with the image. Like this card. I colored the image first and then built the card around it. I love it when that happens!

Ok…well, I hope you have enjoyed this card and learning a little more about me. I’ll be back on Wednesday with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches and again on Friday with the Fancy Friday monthly hop. I’m so glad you dropped in today. See you soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: From the Herd; Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities – Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, Skin Tones, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Copic Markers (W0, W2); Accessories: Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine, Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #170

January 21, 2015 Jentimko 9 Comments

Happy middle of the week to you! I’m here today with a mid-week boost to your creativity! We have such a cool sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week. My friend, the uber-talented Jen Mitchell has created this clever sketch for us and the interpretations are going to be such fun! Already the team has all kinds of ideas for you.

I just had to pull out my new Sale-a-bration products once I saw this sketch. Can you believe that I got most of the things on this card for free?? Yes, FREE!!! My favorite price! The background was created with the new Irresistably Yours DSP which comes pre-embossed and ready for you to add ink. I washed on some Bermuda Bay ink that was diluted just a bit by painting it on with a paint brush. Then I stamped the sentiment from Simply Wonderful with Versamark and heat embossed it with Crushed Curry Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I colored inside the Thanks with a Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Write Marker and tied it onto my base with Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine. A few Candy Dots and done. I attached the whole layer to a Whisper White base. Super cute, super fun, super easy!

Back to the craft room today as I try to get some projects ready for the next couple of weeks. Maybe even a video…..gasp! I finally feel like I’m getting back into a groove after all the flying over Christmas. Class schedule is coming soon too. Yes…I’m that behind. I started with a little “spring” cleaning on my blog. I hope you like the new look. I’ve added on some extra buttons and features in my sidebar that I hope help you out.

Ok…I know you have lots of cards to go admire with the rest of the team. Make sure you tell Jen how awesome her sketch is this week! Thanks so much for stopping in. See you soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Simply Wonderful (SAB); Paper: Whisper White, Irresistably Yours; Ink: Versamark, Bermuda Bay Marker; Accessories: Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine, Heat Tool, Crushed Curry Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Brights Candy Dots

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