by Susan Itell | May 27, 2014 | Uncategorized |
Happy "Hump Day" – I can't believe it's Wednesday!
I told you that I get all confused when there is a holiday! I am going to be "doubly confused" as John and I are going to Boston to see a "peep #1" but for just a very, very short trip and then coming home for about 12 hours to get my wonderful Dad to hop back on a plane to see my niece graduate!
WOWZERS….a busy but fun time! My Dad is super excited to make the trek to Florida and I am soooo darn proud of my niece and my wonderful brother! It will be a special time!
This is such a busy time with Stampin' Up! The new catalog excitement is in the air and I must admit – I feel like I have been sitting on Santa's Lap waiting as I think I have been a good girl!
Can you say WOOT-WOOT! Stampin' Up! is offering a super great opportunity for you to take a test drive with me…with Mary Fish…with Stampin' Up! You hear me talk all the time about the PALS….now is your time to become a PAL and if it is not for you….no worries!!!
What am I talking about?
You can pick up your rental car for just $50.00 and pick $55.00 worth of product of your choice!
- What can be in my starter kit? –Whatever your heart desires…it can be current products or are you ready – IT CAN BE THE NEW PRE-ORDER product that you have been seeing me use….that deserves a HUGE woot-woot! Email me and I will give you the item numbers to put in…this truly is a great opportunity.
- If I did this do I have to attend meetings or hold classes? – This is simple = NO! I adore hobbyist and that is what my team consists of…why? – they are passionate, they are doing exactly what they want to do…and that is doing something for them! (I have 2 team members that have not told a soul that they are SUD….and guess what – that is GREAT with me…that's exactly what I did! )You will have an opportunity to attend a monthly "cyber meeting" if you choose…I love them as I can be at home in my jammies…get some inspiration and leave feeling great!
- What is my obligation to SU if I purchase the kit? Again, this is simple = YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION…that's right – you can get the kit….take advantage of the one time 30% discount and then if you decided that this is not for you….that's great – there is no obligation to stay…
I am sure that many think why would I ever want to offer you something so great when many of you order from me already – EASY-PEASY.….why wouldn't I???…I love our product and I love what I do!
My main goal is to help YOU in having this incredible opportunity to be with a fantastic group of positive and inspiring PALS and let you be able to save $$$ and be fulfilled!
Please email me and I will be happy to email or call you back with item numbers that you might need, or better yet – click here and you can go ahead and fill the $55.00 yourself! (We all know that this fills up fast even with the basics)
Your Starter kit will ship for free…you will get extra catalogs….and SU is also going to give you a Paper Pumpkin Kit! – fun times…!!!
I am doing the stampin' happy dance for many reasons…and I am happy to let you know about this great opportunity! I think you already know I love teaching you how to develop a simple yet fun style…I would love for you to be on this journey with me…is a great ride!
Email me…and I would love to get you going!
by Susan Itell | May 27, 2014 | Baby, Super Easy |
Woot-Woot….It's a boy! I had a co-worker become an Aunt yesterday and she was sooooo excited as this is the 1st grand-baby in their family! It was exciting to hear her excitement of her new nephew's birth!
Naturally, I needed to whip up a simple card that will make her smile! This is about as clean…simple yet fun as it gets! I know that many of you struggle with using DSP as a focal part to a card, and I think that this post today will make you see that it can work without being distracting!
My goal today for you was to share with you the offerings of the DSP Paper Stacks that I am going to offer to you…but it simply did not happen with getting a Pay-Pal button linked to my blog (remember me…the computer challenged person!)
I adore the stacks…they come in 6 collections – Brights, Neutrals, Regals, Subltes and (2) In-Color and I simply could not be without them! Why? Look at this card, cute right! True, I use them mainly for linng envelopes….to me – they are the PERFECT finshing touch!
Please make sure that you go to my dear friend and PAL, Brian King….he offers the swatches for all of the new Designer Series Papers and does a FABULOUS job! I have already ordered mine form Brian and I am hoping that you will find the ones that I am offering as useful!
Paper ROCKS and it is WONDERFUL to be able to take advantage of product shares…it gives you the opportunity to get a "taste" of the NEW products without purchases all of them!
- The Card is a Note-card size and remember….with the new catalog, you can get this size in Crumb Cake…YEAH!
- The color of the day is Marina Mist! Using the NEW stamp set that will be unveiled a week from today….this gem is appropriately names, Something for Baby and the best thing….it comes in a bundle! YEAH! An instant 15% discount for YOU! This carriage is sooo cute!
- Naturally I needed a sentiment but was not sure how to place it…Looking at the carriage – the light-bulb went off – Teeny Tiny Wishes to the rescue! Using the Versa Mark (a necessity when heat embossing) and then heat embossing it in Whisper White – BAM – cute!!!! No "fussy cutting" needed…matching framelits make it a breeze!
- How can you not resist adding some bling to the wheels! The Brad Bases and the Subtles Candy Dots made the WOW happen. Popping up just the carriage on this card made the card come to life!
- After finishing to this point, I looked at the card and think there was something missing….just a little something to finish this cute card! I cut "slivers" of Marina Mist and framed the card…so easy – yet so effective!
- Last the envelope…carrying out the theme with the DSP…I choose to line the outside of the envelope and WOWZERS – not only easy…it creates a smile for the mail man!
I hope that this has inspired you today – this is soooo quick and easy! One thing that I am passionate about is paper!!! You can see in many of my cards (and this is a great example) that letting the paper be the star – is a great and effective way to go!
Paper is very inexpensive and the POP that it gives you is endless! We are very fortunate that Stampin' Up! takes great pride in making the colors of our paper – the are beautiful and also the quality is amazing!
For those of you that are new to Stampin' Up, you will hear the term "In-Color" – these are colors of paper that are around for 2 years…and next week – there will be 5 new colors of paper to out beautiful collection!
If you are like me, having a holiday on Monday always throws my week off….have a great day and please POP back tomorrow…some super exciting news in store for YOU!
Until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | May 26, 2014 | Make it MINE Monday, Photopolymer Stamps, Thank You |
Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I hope that you are enjoying the weekend and I hope that each of us can take some time today to think, thank and be grateful for the men and women who served and have served in the Armed Forces for our wonderful country!
It is Make it Monday and here is your sketch for you to play around with! There are a couple of "challenges" (websites) that I like and this one was a past sketch from Freshly Made Sketches…. I hope that you can find some time for yourself and create a masterpiece from this sketch! Here's my take…..
If you have subscribed to my blog for a while….you always know there is a story behind the cards that I make! We just celebrated my Mother in Laws 80th Birthday and it was wonderful to have a special dinner with my in-laws!
Sitting there – looking at how amazing my MIL looks with all that she has on her with taking care of my Father-in-law that is not in the best of health I realize how blessed I was. My FIL loves Memorial Day and his little town always has a parade. In the past he always went and was so proud.
My FIL was in the Korean War an has some very repressed memories of his time serving for our country. Sitting there I realize how much we take for granted…and this card is for him…to thank him for being so brave!
How can you go wrong with these colors and so fitting for this day!
- The card base is a note-card size, 3 1/2" X 5" in Real red.
- The Whisper white piece is 1 3/4" X 3 1/2 and then the Not So Navy from the Regals Designer Series Pack and is cut at 2" X 2 3/4"…love these papers!
- For the sentiment, the stamped piece is 2" x 3" and then I stamped it with the MUST HAVE "Thank You" set and it is in the new catalog….
Comment: – I am so happy that with the new catalog that Stampin' Up! is offering more and more photopolymer stamp! I am doing the happy dance as they are so easy to see when you need "quick placement" –If you go to my Shop Now you will see that this stamp set does not show up…it is on backorder but it is in the NEW CATALOG!
- After stamping the sentiment from "Another Thank You", I did a quick mat in the red 1/8" larger, and then the white is 1/4" larger – I thought a quick stitching in night of navy was appropriate to "break up" the white!
You know what is left – the envelope! Easy-peasy with the Big Shot and the Envelope Liner framelits! Please pop back tomorrow to see my offering for the Color Collections Paper swatch offerings and also ribbon…WOWZER – we have some GREAT NEW ribbons!
Today is a special day…one that I truly hope that's "reflection" touches your heart1 After seeing my FIL and seeing his love for his family and so excited to be "out" with family…..it made me STOP and reflect how we take many things for granted…if you can…thank someone that has had the courage to honor their country!
Until tomorrow….
by Susan Itell | May 25, 2014 | SNEAK PEEK!!!, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Tips and Tricks!!! |
Are you ready for a FUN technique that not only creates a great effect…it is a great "stepping stone" to develop you confidence in "water-coloring" The technique is "Coloring with re-inkers" – ready to learn?!? You are going to love this and I hope you give it a try!
- The base is a A-2 in a vertical base and then the Island Indigo is 5 1/4" X 4" and the NEW IN COLOR , Lost Lagoon is 5 1/8" X 3 7/8".
- 1st I used the Embossing Buddy to get any static or dust off of the paper…..next - the Mixed Bunch Stamp set and the versa mark ink…I randomly stamped the flowers as shown and then heat embossed it with the white embossing powder.
TIP ALERT: – I probably did not have to do this but after I did the above I then did the sentiment with the help of the stamp-a-ma-jig. (I was afraid that I would smudge the flowers if I did not heat emboss the flowers first!) The sentiment came from the Four You Stamp Set.
Now comes the fun! This is so easy that you are going to be sooooo darn tootin' proud of yourself!
- Using on of the clear mounting blocks…squeeze a couple drops of Island Indigo and another one with Pool Party re-inker! Taking a dry Aqua Painter (do not fill it with water) dip the end of the brush in just a touch of water, then into the ink and made a "puddle" – Color away and have fun! I did probably 3-4 petals before adding more ink!
TIP: It is soooo much easier doing it this way if you are not feeling confident with using the aqua painters! I personally love them and use them often with traditional water-coloring, but I find this technique super fast, fun and easy! The embossed edges make it easy for the ink not to bleed out and over!
- A couple of quick decorating tips and DONE! I wrapped bakers twine around and the I also tied a bow on white buttons and used glue dots to adhere them….fast and cute!
- The liner for the envelope came from the NEW Moonlight Designer Paper Series Stack….such a keeper of a product!!!
This was a super fun card to make and I am excited to make more with this technique! Don't you think that it would be amazing in neutrals? I can see Crumb Cake as your card base and using sahara sand and soft suede! Please let me know your thoughts in how ou liked it!
Tomorrow is "Make it Mine Monday" where I will provide you with a sketch and then you can give it a try…a fn way to help you develop a style and also have fun all at the same time!
Have fun the holiday weekend and I am an email away! Until tomorrow…..
by Susan Itell | May 24, 2014 | Birthday, Stamp-a-ma-jig |
Birthdays are a yearly reminder that we all should celebrate as it is a special day! Yesterday was my Mother-in-laws special day and it was a milestone…she turned 80! I still find it hard to believe as she is so active and always has a positive attitude with taking care of John's Dad as his health has failed!
A special dinner with family was the perfect setting to celebrate this great birthday! Rita was a librarian in an Elementary school and still enjoys reading so I thought a card with a bookmark would perfect!
Last month Jeanie and I went to another SUD house for a class and we learner how to make this card. I wanted to switch up the stamp set and colors and even though it is a bit more difficult than my clean and simple cards…it was well worth it and I would definitely do it again, it is fun!
In the above pictures you see how the "book mark" is to the right of the card and I used the perforated blade to "prepare" this. I will have to say…if you do not have this…no worries what so ever, what I would do is make a "heavy" score line and then let the person know to simply cut it off!
This is the 1st time I have used the rotary cutter with the perforated blade…it was fun but just do not press too hard as you will cut the paper! You can see at the bottom part of this bookmark – I pressed to hard but you can see how easy it would be to tear off and use!
Let's go….here is the scoop for you to make this gem!
- The card base is 5 1/2 X 10 3/4". Score at 4 1/2" (This will ultimately be your A-2 Card)
- The other dimensions are Elegant Eggplant 4" X 5 1/4" and Very Vanilla is 3 5/8" X 4 7/8" and also 2" X 5 1/4" for the bookmark
- If you have the rotary cutter with the perforation blade…run it down at 8 1/2" – IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THIS…no biggie – just score it very hard so you can clearly see where the bookmark will be!
- Take the top part of the "bookmark" part and use the scalloped tag punch and push it all the way on (centering it on the 2 1/4" part) to make the bookmark come to life – then do the same with the skinny piece as well!
- The stamp sets that I used were Everything Eleanor and Memorable Moments…I thought they would be perfect for this card and the neutral was Sahara Sand…a great color!
- A must have for this card is the stamp-a-ma-jig! I know that many of you are still "on the fence" with it but I really hope that you learn to like it!
- The flowers were "fussy cut" which was super easy but I did 1st "green glued" one down and then put a stampin' dimensional on the top and added a pearl! Classic yet clean!
- The Big Shot and the Labels Collection Framelits made cutting out the sentiment part a breese!
You can see how when the card is "closed" up with the bookmark, it becomes a regular size card! Lining the envelope with the Elegant Eggplant Designer Series Paper Stack makes it a "no brainer" every-time!
Try this – use different stamps and colors and I even think it would be stunning with vellum paper! As I said before, it was different for me but it was fun!
It is the holiday weekend and we are looking forward to doing nothing….but be at home and enjoy some peaceful days!
Typepad was acting up yesterday – I hope that it will not be a pain today! Enjoy your Saturday and until tomorrow!
