by Susan Itell | Mar 30, 2014 | Birthday |
Happy Sunday! Yesterday I shared with you that is was my daughter Hannah's Birthday and I did not want to show you her card…in case she popped on line and saw it before she opened it! If you follow my blog you already know that she loves horses and still rides competitively even though she is in college!
There is a moral to this post…and as you know – I am totally honest with you about the in's and out's of stampin' etc…and my ultimate goal is for you to have the confidence to go and make cards that reflect who YOU are…it takes a while to develop a style…but hopefully I have inspired you to keep things simple and you know what….
This card might be cute…but I will say it was not simple!
I do not regret making it as I am proud of it but I can say, this was a bit stressful as I do not "see" punch art like many do…and guess what – that is the BEST thing about this whole crafting thing we do…we find what works for us…and we find things that don't!…I felt like this was an appropriate saying for how I felt…
I highly encourage each of us to be a turtle and stick your neck out and try something that is a challenge for you…it is an "eye-opener" and it also does make you go out of your comfort zone! I will say hands down…ever since I started participating in challenges…it has helped me grow! There are so many out there…heck – what do you have to loose = NOTHING!!!! The thing I love about challenges is…I do not need to change my style…I can express my style and be comfortable…and still get the job done!
Please feel free to email me if you want any suggestions as to which challenges I think are super fun! These challenges that are out there are for everyone…you do not need to be a demonstrator….you do not have to have a blog…you just need to have a warm heart, open mind and confidence to say…"I CAN DO IT"
My inspiration for this cute and whimiscal card was from a simple google search of "Ideas of punch art of a horse" and BINGO – sooooo many came up and I took bits from here and bits from there and came up with this! I cannot tell you how to make this…I started to do my normal writing….but then I kept changing things….and the rest is history!!!! Most of my inspiration came from Julie Olivier a Canadian Demonstrator..
I used the Neutrals Core'dinations paper for my "barn" – Using the Square Framelits, I cut my barn door BEFORE I used the Wood Grain Embossing Folder and sanding it!
The color of my horse today is Chocolate Chip! (Hannah's horses are both bays and our card stock is not quite that brownish-red) but this looks great!
This dear little horse does take a bunch of punches…..here are the ones that I used! Boho Blossoms, Owl Punch, Bird Builder Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, Cupcake Punch…
I have not used the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set for ages…but I thought that this would be perfect with this card and I decided to heat emboss it with the white embossing powder and then POPPED it out with the Banners Framelits! I think it looks super cute!
Whew….I'm glad that this is over…I was "Mama proud" but I sure do like my clean and simple cards! Make sure that you check back tomorrow as am super pleased with my farewell to Sale-A-Bration……sniff-sniff!
I know that Hannah will cherish this card…and it will make her smile and laugh! Below are pictures of her horses! Unfortunately I do not have a good picture of Stanley, he is new and a baby….getting ready to do make his debut at his 1st competition next month….Oscar has been a great horse…we are blessed!
Hannah and Oscar….what a great boy….If he was a dog, he would be a Labrador!
Hannah and Stanley….the 1st day she tried him…he's a cutie-pie!
This is Hannah and Millie (the horse I stopped to see last week) – this is their last show together…she is a beautiful horse but is so happy with her new life! She always has a soft spot in my heart!
Well…I must admit…my "real life versions" of my "live" animals are much better than my card…but I am still proud of it!!! I hope that this brought you some smiles this morning!
Tomorrow is it….the last day of Sale-A-Bration! Please make the most of it before the goodies go bye-bye!!!
I sent out to everyone that emailed me and said that they wanted to tke part in the Spring Card Swap! If you did not receive and email from me with the scoop….PLEASE click here and email me!
I am getting some A M A Z I N G cards….woot-woot – you all are amazing and I love that we have coffee together!!! Have a fabulous day and….
Until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | Mar 29, 2014 | Uncategorized |
O.k. – today is actually a GREAT day as today is the day that my wonderful daughter turns 20….it's official – I no longer have any "peeps" in the teens…Hannah my dear….HAPPY 20th and have fun at the Carolina Cup and naturally I would not show your birthday card to everyone to spoil the surprise……(you'll see it tomorrow on my post)
Now let's get to this pitty party that I had….(you noticed I said HAD….because no one showed up for it and I'm ok now)…you have been hearing me say that I am OOBER excited about the Blendabilities that Stampin' Up! is coming out with….and that they announced it at Leadership in January that they would be unveiled in the 1st quarter….well….there are not – but don't worry – they are still coming!!!
Here is a picture of what I am talking about! They are alcohol based markers that will make coloring/shading not only fun…but a dream! I have been so excited for these to come out and I need to understand and I hope that you do as well….that Stampin' Up! is waiting because they are afraid that the vendor will not be able to keep up with the high demand and until they can get all of that figured out….they are waiting!
They will be coming out in 12 shades/palettes and each set will give you (3) markers with a variation on the color to get great shading! It is obvious that SU is predicting that they are going to be a HUGE hit…(and they are)…but I must say – even though I was sad…they will be here soon and I will forget all about the time-line! Ok….enough…but when I was sad on Thursday, I thought of this card and I am happy with it…
Let's go – I think this is tooooo darn tootin' cute!
- The card base is the A-2 whisper white and the pool party is 5 1/8" X 3 7/8" and then the other white is 5" X 3 3/4" TIP: get the cutting out of the way…especially if you are going to be making a bunch! I am a big believer that getting this part behind you makes the stamping part soooo much more fun!
- Pulling out the "tree branch" from the Take Care Stamp Set…I inked it up with Early Espresso and then using the Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped it once and then a little bit more to make the branch longer!
- Doing something I have not done in a L O N G time…..I squiggled each of these colors on the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig plastic sheet (Island Indigo, Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe and Sahara Sand) and then picking up the color with the blender pen…I colored in the adorable owls!
COMMENT: Back to my pitty party – this is where I cannot wait to use the new Blendabilities…these worked GREAT and did the job, but the new markers are going to be over the top!
- The sentiment was perfect for this (I thought) and it came from the Gifts of Kindness Stamp Set! I find it a fun game to go through the catalog and look at stamp sets to find the perfect sentiment! Actually when you look at this stamp set…you could use many of these sentiments with the same cute owl layout! This is a very versatile stamp set!
- From Sale-a-bration…the pool party twine was the perfect touch to the cute card! I am so proud of myself – I MADE A BOW! Being the "bow challenged" person I am…I was happy!
- Last this is the envelope and is this liner PERFECT with it or what!!!! It looks like it was made for this card! It is from the Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper and I just adore it with the card! This is a very "happy" pack of paper! LOVE IT!!
So…can you see why my lip was hanging down on Thursday when I read the news….but have no fear – they will be here…..and hopefully soon….ZOOM!!!!
I have been waiting to place my last order for Sale-a-bration for these blendabilities…but I am going to get it done this weekend! I have been going through a ton of paper lately and there are many staples that I am running low of!
Let's all have a fun and safe weekend and please think of my "red caboose" Hannah today on her special day….her 20th Birthday!
Please email me….please place your final orders to take advantage of the FREEBIES…..and until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | Mar 28, 2014 | Thank You |
I needed a fun, fresh a bit modern card to send to a friend for treating me to a delicious lunch! I can remember when the catalog came out…that the moment I saw the Modern Melody Designer Series Paper, I thought BINGO-BANGO…this is over the top!!!! Well it is beautiful but I must admit, I do not use it as much as I thought I would …..so a "push out of the box" I was determined to use this paper for you today!
I was super excited about the end result for this card…just think of the different options you could go with color…shapes…size of card etc….you see = "thinking out of the box works sometimes" I knew that I wanted to stick with the black and vanilla color scheme…but the POP of color of pool party makes it!
So let's get going as I hope that this is one of those cards that you not only CASE but that you also take the layout and adapt it to other cards! This looks hard, but wait until you see how easy it is to do!
- The card base is an A-2 card but I cut it at 4 1/2 (half of the sheet longways) and then scored it at the 5 1/2" mark! TIP: Always use a bone folder when creasing the paper…to me, this always gives a sharp and professional presence to your project!
- Making the very vanilla as my neutral, I went ahead and cut (2) pieces at 4" X 5 1/4".
- Using Pool Party as my POP color, I cut a piece at 1 3/4" X 5" and then another piece in black at 1 7/8" X 5 1/8"
- Now don't get stressed with me…but pull out the stampin' trimmer and cut thin pieces of black paper, another great way to use up scraps…just take it to the outside of the "grey part/track" of the cutting strip….(this way it will give you a super thin piece!)
- There is no "rhyme or reason" in how to place these little strips. I used the "green glue" to place them and then I simply used the paper snips to cut off the excess!
- The added touch that I did was to place a very vanilla candy dot from the Neutrals Candy Dots! This you could totally skip…I just liked the effect!
- Let's get stamping! I highly suggest that you pull out old faithful….the Stamp-a-ma-jig! It only takes an extra second to use and you will have perfect placement every time! The sentiment came from the Really Good Greetings Stamp Set and I adore the font! A quick stamp and then 3 black candy dots did the trick!
I love seeing pictures from the side so you can see the depth of the card….the only thing that I popped up with dimensionals were the triangles!
As the saying goes….that's all folks! Easy…clean…classic…and just beautiful! I was pleased and I was even happier to send it to my friend!
There are just days before the end of Sale-A-Bration….it's not too late for you to get some of the freebies before the 31st!
Let's touch on opportunities….
The fact is that over 80% of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators are hobbyists.…
What does that mean? – it is probably just what you are…someone that love this hobby…someone that buys a ton of products…someone that can hardly wait to see new catalogs….etc…..
So I ask you…why not sign up and become a demonstrator?
There are no hidden strings attached….heck – you could simply start and then stop the same month and that's ok (betcha you wouldn't because getting things at a discount is wonderful)!
Please email me and we will talk!
Every person that I have on my team are hobbyists…
They love the product and they love the discount…it does not mean that you have to go and teach….that you can't get together with your regular stampin' friends…it means that you realize that you can take advantage of a discount…be able to get the NEW product ahead of time….and also be a part of my team of inspiration and also be a PAL with Mary Fish! The PALS are an incredible source of inspiration and endless talent!
Just until March 31st (Monday), you can sign up with me and pay just $99.00 and you will be able to pick $150.00 worth of Stampin' Up! products…and it ships FREE! That's it!
I know…many of you already say that you have everything…well I would say that is stretching it a bit…but I know that I can always find the "staples" that I never would be without and the great thing is after you get your kit…and when you place your 1st order…you would get 30% off of that 1st order!
As I said before, everyone on my team are hobbyist…not one of them have a blog….not one of them actively go out and teach…but the common bond we have is that we have each other and we all love to craft! I would be honored to have you on my team…think about it!!!
You are going to laugh at tomorrows post…I already have it drummed up in my head because I just found out something and no one is showing up to my "pitty party"…
Have a great day and until tomorrow!
by Susan Itell | Mar 27, 2014 | Birthday |
I needed to make another Birthday Card and I also knew that I wanted to participate in the Pals Hop today…so I put my "thinking cap" on and came up with the idea of making 2 bookmarks that can be used for later and be super practical at the same time!
Below is the sketch for today's hop! The oober talented Nicole Watt came up with this design and I was happy with my twist on it! We call can use bookmarks…so why not make it fun and incorporate them with today's card!
The card size is 5" X 7"…I decided to make it a bit bigger to have the bookmarks the right size! Here is the scoop on today's card…
- I started with making the book marks! I cut the paper 2" X 5 1/2" and I did (2) in the pacific point and one in white. I thought about cutting the white shorter as you will not see it…but then I changed my mind as I did not want to feel a "lump" where the paper was cut! This gives the bookmark super strong!
- The bundle set I used for this project is the Just Sayin' Clear Bundle…so cute and versatile! I love it that Stampin' Up! has so many bundles for us now…you will save an instant 15%…woot-woot!
- To one of the blue markers, cut the word bubbles out with the desired framelits. Now take it ontop of the white one and trace the image so you can stamp a perfect image!
- Using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for perfect placement…I stamped the images and then erased the pencil line! YIKES – sorry for the bad pictures….but you'll get the idea! I used the "green glue' to adhere the bookmarks together!
- The tassel was made with the white bakers twine! So easy, so fast…so useful! The added simple touch was with the white gel pen...works every-time and an effect that gives instant dimension!
- It is super hard to see but I used the Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper as part of the backdrop of the card…it is the very faint and subtle dots of light grey! In person it looks super – just a very soft touch!
- Some simple strips of paper across the bottom made the perfect "resting place" for my bookmarks! I did seal the bottom on so they would not slip through! Putting a piece of sticky strip across the back of the white 1/4" stitched grosgrain ribbon….again – just a touch for dimension!
- Because this is an odd size card – I needed to make my own envelope! Easy with the help of the Envelope Punch Board! This gem for just $19.95 allows you to make many sizes of envelopes and also other projects….click here to see the post from the other day that I did when I made a box!
- I lined the outside of the envelope with the same Designer Series Paper…a completed fun card!
I think the thing that I liked about this card is the fact of the "2 for 1" – the bookmark will remind you of this card everytime you use it! It truly is super sturdy with it being a total of 3 pieces of paper!
Pop over to the Pals Paper Art Website and see all of the inspiration from the designers and the entries this week! Please think about playing with us this week….you have until next Tuesday so….get to it!
If you still want to participate it the Spring Card Swap….please send me an email with the subject line saying CARD SWAP. The date for you to get your card to me is Sunday, April 6th.
I sent an email out yesterday to all of the people that have emailed me….so if you did not receive one, please email me! I am thrilled that so many want to participate! I will share with everyone the cards that come my way before I send them out!
Thanks for popping by…please share my blog with your family and friends! You never know when the Blog Candy might be popping up…..(I feel like it has been a while)
Until tomorrow!
