by Susan Itell | Jul 4, 2014 | Things you just have to buy! |
Happy 4th of July to all! It feels great to have a long weekend and I hope that you are able to do something fun and make lots of memories! This is the 3rd Friday that I am sharing with you….”Some of my Favorite Things” Please click here and here to see the previous posts I did!
The 1st 2 were of Stampin’ Up! products that I feel are a “must have” and they were all under $10.00! Today’s post will showcase products more “must have’s” but the price point is going up to $30.00!
I still have not included stamps…punches and framelits etc….but there will always be another Friday so please continue to pop back! These are in no particular order…they are just goodies that I simply think are a necessity to have to make our “habit easier and run smoother”
I still swear by this…(It’s like having that “little back dress in your closet”)
“If you have the right tools…you will be happy….as having the right tools to do the job makes the whole process go soooo much smoother”
Let’s get going…please feel free to leave me a message and let me know if you agree with my choices today! You all are my best form of advertising and I thank you for being so loyal!
- Envelope Punch Board (page 194) – I simply cannot believe that this gem is just $19.95 – a MUST have so you can make any size of envelope you want! This makes a great and affordable gift…and just think how someone would adore this!
2. Simply Scored Scoring Tool – (page 214) – I always use this for 3 D projects and when making "DEEP" scores on my card fronts!
3. Color Coach (page 172) – The perfect tool when you need inspiration and/or haveing a mental block on what colors to put together! I use it weekly – love it!
4. Heat Tool (page 213) – The notes below say it all – wow what a difference!
5. – DSP Paper Stacks (page 180+) You know how I feel about these…this is exactly why I offered a paper swatch for these… I use them ALL THE TIME and are PERFECT for lining envelopes….1 sheet will line 8 envelopes!!!! The best thing is that they come in ALL color families!
6. Clear Block Storage (page 234) – Being organized make your life easier! "I rest my case"
7. Stampin Scrub (page 235) – Love…love ….LOVE – I must have. Our stamps work sooo hard for use – we need to take care of them!
8. Stamp-a-ma-jig – (page 235) – I know that this is always a "Love/Hate" relationship with this tool…but I LOVE it and I stand behind it…please email me if you need help with it!
9. Craft Scissors – (page 215) The best indulgence I did for myself!
10. Stampin Trimmer (page 216) – A no brainer….just make sure that you buy extra blades as you will use this ALL THE TIME! Wouldn't make a card without it!
Well…that's it!!! How did you like my picks – do you agree????
I just love how SU makes it so easy to be creative with such simple and useful tools…..and the BEST thing is that you can shop right from your home…in your jammies!
Have a fabulous holiday and thanks for spending a part of you day with me! Until tomorrow….it is Simple Saturday and you will be smiling!
by Susan Itell | Jul 3, 2014 | PPA Challenges |
It is Thursday and you know what that means…it another PPA Chalenge and I hope that you will play today! I know that this is such a super busy week for all of us but I hope that you can sneak some time in to play! Here you go for this week! Aren't these colors beautiful!
I can still remember the 1st time I "heat embossed" and I thought it was nothing short than magic and guess what…I still feel the same way! There are a couple things that are super important when heat embossing!
- Use your embossing buddy! This takes the static and dust off your paper to create a super clean image each and every-time!
- When you use the heat tool…keep it moving in a circular motion..this will help keep you paper from "warping" and there is nothing like that instant SHINE of seeing an embossed image come to like!
I've got some bad news….you know that I usually give you the measurements and more details but as the saying goes…."Houston, we have a problem"….and the problem is – I left my little piece of paper along with the card at work!
SILLY SUSAN….I did not realize that until I started to type up the post but I can tell you that the size of the card is a 3" X 6" card…just love those odd sizes! I remembered that part as I usually try to go with a size for the envelope that you can easily make with a regular sheet of paper, this time the envelope was made with a 7 1/2" square of Very Vanilla.
Taking the Basic Black card stock and using the Pool Party Embossing Powder…the instant WOW happened and WOWZERS – so sharp against the dark paper! The Million and One Stamp Set is the clean and classic stamp that always stands out!
This is a "Peanut Butter and Jelly Card"…why – it is soooo darn easy and it is you basic layer and layer and then adding a simple embellishment, The itty bitty accents shape pack…works like a charm!
You have heard me talk about our stamps before….well this set is a must have…LOVE IT and it is soooo darn useful to add that special touch!
Underneath the flower, is a simple…small piece of pool party cotton ribbon…this ribbon is even "Susan friendly" which means – I can even make a bow out of it and I am "bow challenged"
The envelope punch board was the "Trump Card" for being able to make an odd size envelope and the liner is my "go-to" Designer Series Paper Stack in the new In Colors!
For "just" under $20.00 – this is a keeper of all keepers! (Make sure you pop back tomorrow as I am going to share with you another "must have products" in the $10.00 – $20.00 price range!)
I love to see the different interpretations of challenges…please make sure that you pop onto the Pals Paper Art Website to see all of the inspiration out there for this color challenge! It is open until next Tuesday so….how about it? – Please come and play!!!!
Until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | Jul 2, 2014 | Birthday, Paper Pumpkin |
I have several friends that celebrate birthdays near the 4th of July Holiday so I put my thinking cap on as what to make…these are some of the goodies that are in the June Paper Pumpkin Kit! You know the saying…"You've Come A Long Way Baby"…well this is what I have been saying about the Paper Pumpkin Program!
I am not showing you the "pinwheels" that you can make with this kit but I will say that last night for my goddaughters 16th Birthday, I made her a Carrot Cake and put 3 pinwheels in the center and it was just adorable and festive….
My sons girlfriend, Lydia put her paper pumpkin kit together and lined the sidewalk with pinwheels…lots of fun and festive ideas! Please click here and see Mary Fish's post about how she used her kits….too darn cute! I plan to use mine for napkins on the holiday!
Let's get to today's card….cute…right!?!?!
If you have been following my blog you know that I adore polka dots…why? – they just make me smile and when I open up this kit and saw this oober fun paper – I was beaming! In the below picture you will see the paper that was in the kit!
- The card is a 5 x 5 Crumb Cake card and I simply took one of the fun squares and placed sticky strip down the edges that were alreay precut to make a square! A "smidge" larger of real red seemed to be the perfect touch needed to start the POP!!!
- This is such a easy card to whip up…I knew all I really needed was a great sentment that would make the polka dots stand out even more…the Age Awareness Photopolymer Stamp was the perfect choice!
- After doing my stampin thing…I thought that that 3 stars from the Ittey Bitty Accents Punch Pack would be a perfect touch to the card! I was going to go with the Red, White and Blue scheme…but I then thought the red was best…adding a navy candy dot was the perfect finishing touch!
- I made my own envelope and then was able to use another square to line the envelope…are you smiling…dots are just always so fun and festive!
- Don't you love the clean and crisp lines of this card. Less is best and simplicity is more! To me this is using the best of both worlds…being able to use up fun paper and using it in a totally different way that was intended.
I just was so happy with this kit! The ideas are endless and I am sure that Stampin' Up! is going to continue to offer more and more great monthly projects for us!
Please go to the Paper Pumpkin Website and see what the fun is all about! This makes a perfect gift to give someone…a subscription that will be delivered right to their door. The feedback that I receive is that people LOVE the fact that they can sit down and create a project without having to think!!!
All of the thinking…cutting…stamps….ink are all right in this cute Red Box that gets delivered to your door each month! John always teases me and says….you "pumpkin" is here and OFF I GO WITH IT!
I hope that I have inspired you to think out of the box and I encourage you to google June Paper Pumpkin ans see all of the fun goodness that is there! I also encourage you to sign up today for the program…you can stop at any time and you can also suspend your membership for a month if you wish….
Once again, another way that Stampin' Up! makes things super easy for us! Tomorrow is the Pals Paper Art Challenge and it is a color challenge…..(I just love them) and I think that you are going to like the card as well!
Happy "HUMP" day – this will be a short week….but a fun week – until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | Jul 1, 2014 | New Product |
Today is the day that many of you have been waiting for…the ability to order the 1st wave of Stampin’ Blendabilities! I must say when I first saw them at Leadership in January I knew that they would be a hit…an instant hit and I truly thought that the would have been available at the end of the 1st quarter. Why weren’t they???…
The reason is simple, they knew with the excitement that there would be no way that they could keep up with the demand and the end result would be back order and we all know how frustrating back orders can be!
Enough….the good news is that today you can order 6 (color sets today) plus the Skin Tone set and the remainder of the colors will be available to you on August 1st I think that it is very smart of Stampin’ Up! to stagger them this way.
Another great thing about today…..you all know how beautiful the Designer Series Paper is….well turn to pages 188 – 187 and this month you can buy 3 and get 1 free…no limits on how many!!! (I just love when they run deals like this) Click here to see the offerings!
Back to the Blendabilities – these are the colors that you can order today!
- Cherry Cobbler (Item #130995 – $11.95)
- Coastal Cabana (Item #131000 – $11.95)
- Daffodil Delight (Item #130998 – $11.95)
- Old Olive (Item #130999 – $11.95)
- Pumpkin Pie (Item #130997 – $11.95)
- Rich Razzleberry (Item #131003 – $11.95)
- Skin Tone Assortment (Item #129370 – $22.95)
This is also available and a must have to help with shading and fixing "boo-boo's"
- Color Lifter (Item #129369 – $4.95)
You can see by the pictures that each color comes in a pack of 3 and you will get a Light, Medium and Dark Marker so you will be able to blend perfectly! I think that these are the answers to many of your prayers of wishing that you could water color.
Let me clarify that statment…YOU can water-color but I know that many of you do not enjoy it, find it frustrating etc…but I think that this method using the blendabilities will be a FUN and rewarding method of coloring…(remember how much fun it was to color coloring books!
I warn you …this is a totally different technique and true there is a learning curve but I think that it is going to be one of those bicycle things…once you get it – you get it! I adore coloring and these are so fun to play with – I know that you all will do wonders with them!
Three things that I especially like about them…
- You use whisper white card stock (this is PERFECT for those of you that do not have or card for the water coloring paper)
- You use a new Black ink called Memento. (this is my new favorite Black as it cleans just like our stamps…no special cleaner and your stamps do not get stained)
- You can color on our embellishments…..pearls, rhinestones, buttons…
Here are the item numbers for the Ink! ( a must have)
- Memento Ink Pad (Item #132708 – $5.95)
- Memento Ink Refill (Item #133456 – $4.95)
Let’s go….this is so simple and I just had to change up the sentiment for today to YIPPEE-SKIPPEE!!! As I thought that was super appropriate for the unveiling today~ This is from the Yippee Skippee Stamp Set and it always makes me smile with the fun sentiments!
The Stamp is that super beautiful stamp called, Vivid Vases…again – one of those "no brainers" that Stampin' Up! is offering us…super for a budget but always has a classic WOW end result! This would be a great starter stamp for you to learn to use the blendabilities!
I said that you use Whisper White….LOVE IT….but have no fear with ths picture below…this is the back of the colored image. The thing I love is that the pens do NOT alter the look of the paper….the front is just as pretty as if you would have stamped it!
Did you see the pearl…so simple – just color it whatever your heart desires…you have an instant matching embellishment. Quick, fun & DONE! Here is the front of this clean and simple card.
I decided to make my own note card in Rich Razzelberry to POP the accents of the Blendabilities…and I love the end result! The best advice I can give you is practice, practice and then do it again!
I would also Google to watch videos on how to use them and you are going to be amazed at all the different angles and ideas people have with them…I say – watch this one from Mary Fish…to me – she nails it – very short, sweet and spot on! (Typical wonderful Mary)
Also….watch this video from Stampin' Up! – I think it is a great over view on this fun product! SU has many videos on their You Tube Channel that are well worth watching…
I know that there is a big buzz about these gems and as a demonstrator, I can order the next set of six and I am super excited to play (well…after I get my ribbon and paper shares out the door) The liner was from the "Susan go-to" the Brights DSP Stack…..just love them!
I am very proud of Stampin' Up! for being on trend and offering these great markers! I know that these will be a favorite of many as I feel that they are "forgiving" for those that want the look of a "hand colored" image! Please feel free to email me if you have questions!
I am excited to share with you more samples as well as more tips and tricks as I learn them! Let's have a great day and until tomorrow!!! Stampin' hugs!
