by Susan Itell | May 13, 2017 | Simple Saturday |
This is a special weekend for MOM’S out there but I will say THIS MOM is super excited to be at home this weekend and have one of the “do nothing but everything at the same time” weekends. Just having “no agenda” days are THE BEST in my opinion. I have super sweet card for you this weekend and it is from the Bundle, Best Birds….and I just bought it!
I wanted to showcase this and also give you A TIP. Once I saw the new catalog I naturally looked at what was walking the plank and what was being carried over. (Sounds normal…right???) Next, I look to see the bundles that are being carried over and then look to see if there are some that I do not have and then weigh the options.
This is why this is the first time I have blogged about it because I just bought it! When you pop back tomorrow I will share and also show you how I conditioned the stamps, a tip that I have blogged about before but it doesn’t hurt to see it again!
This IS being carried over but IT IS NOT at the bundled price and this gem – you do want both …the stamp and the dies because they really are detailed!
The over all card size is a 4 1/4″ square and tomorrow I will share with you all of the measurements etc….and remember, you could easily use a regular envelope to mail this is it would fit just fine, but I like to make my own envelopes with the Envelope Punch Board – a unique and fun finishing touch that just some to you when you open up the mailbox and see a square card!
For the “lift” of my feather friends I used the foam adhesive strips to add the POP for the images. It was a breeze to just cut a strip and the have an instant lift without having to cut up dimensionals. I admit, I forget about these adhesive strips and I am not sure why – they are great and can be use for so many things other that for shaker cards.
You are getting to see a “sneak peek” of a new DSP paper….it is a 6″ X 6″ paper stack called color theory. It is a very interesting one and one that you need to look at an have an open mind. At a glance you feel like you are at a paint store looking at paint swatches but then the lightbulb goes on and you say – that is a perfect about of “splash” !
In the coordinating colors you see that the green is Old Olive but I paired it with Pear Pizzazz and I think it looks super! Please do not be afraid to try other shades in the same family….you will be happy that many work.
To color the images, I used the brush end of our markers and then took the Aqua Painter over the stamped image and blended color a bit to make it a bit more solid in the color but you could easily skip this step. The marker colors I used were soft suede and pear pizzazz.
The birds were a cinch – a good old crank through “Mr. Big” with the framelits in this bundle and a pice of blue paper from this stack – easy and worked for me! I really do not know why I passed up this bundle before because I am amazed at the detail of these birds! Tomorrow I will share with you all of the elements to this bundle and I think that you will see for yourself that is is a wonderful collection.
Now let’s have a brief chat about these sentiments and the font. They are beautiful and so clean, crisp and simple. (again, why didn’t I give this more attention….????) – sometimes I think that this happens because you do not see a bunch of bloggers showcasing it but once you do….you have a different pair of glasses on and the lightbulb goes off!
You can see that the moral of this birdie story is….this is going to be around for at least another year and who knows…..maybe longer but we all know that the bundle price WILL NOT be around starting June 1st!
When I take pictures for my blog I try to take them from both angles….and I just could not decide which one to show you so I thought – why not BOTH because this is such a cutie/classic! (You see….even I get tickled with myself every once in a while) I hope that this sweet card made you give this bundle another thought!
Naturally if you are not a fan of square cards, you could easily change that but if I were you…I would make up several to have on hand and then just leave off the sentiment or better yet, make several up for someones birthday and then stamp the various sentiments and let the recipient decide what she would want.
Giving several cards to someone as a gift with some stamps is always a special “little something” to give and the BEST THING – it is a win-win for both of you because you are happy and proud of yourself and she will be thrilled to have a stash of handmade love to have on hand!
I hope that this little square card and this little birdie brought you a bit of joy and a smile. I cannot wait for you to see ow I stepped it up for tomorrow. That is the challenge that I enjoy doing for you each weekend.
I say, give this bundle another look….I think you will see that the stamps/framelits are a classic and fun but the sentiments – “blue ribbons” for them….just soooo classic!
Enjoy your day, find some “me time” and smile!
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by Susan Itell | May 12, 2017 | Get Well |
Good morning! I have a great post for you on a stamp that is “walking the blank” but one that will be staying with me on Randall Lane. You know how I feel about single stamps….usually they are always “blue ribbon” ones and this is a great example of a “keeper”
Why do I like this stamp….easy – it is EASY to use and it is a great stamps to make in the masses. Let’s face it…COLDS HAPPEN and how sweet is this stamp to brighten someones day that is under the weather.
I hope that you take another look at this classic before it walks off the plank into bye-bye land at the end of the month. It is funny, when I look at the stamps that I keep….many of them are “single ones” – for some reason…they tickle my fancy!
I used the gold embossing powder to do the magical fun for this card. When you make this card, make MANY as we all know that they will go to good use in sending to family and friends.
We all know that there is something so rewarding when we heat emboss but please remember to use the stampin’ buddy to prep the cardsock so you will get a clean stamp and heat set with the embossing!
I hope that the next 2 pictures help you see that pulling this card together is actually not hard….let’s face it – nothing is hard when the method is explained to you!
Just stamp and cut. It is a wee bit of paper-piecing but I think that you can see the end result is totally worth the steps. We all have a TON of DSP and many prints work great with this stamp!
Here is the opposite angle – I tried to get the shine from the gold so you can see how rich looking it is! The color palette is using 2 of the NEW In Colors, tranquil tide and powder pink – both great new and fresh additions to our card stock collection! Remember, these are around for 2 years so there is LOTS of time to play with them!
The DSP that I used is a new kid on the block and it is from a 12 X 12 stack – (yep, I will be offering them in a product share)….the pattern might look familiar to you as it is the one that we currently have with the Navy and White…. – a true classic and one that I know we are all going to have FUN with!
Here is your “pin-able” picture for you…but if you do not have this stamp – please hit that below PAW PRINT and add it to your stash…heck – the price is great and you know that the size and simplicity of this stamp makes it an easy one to use!
Can you see that I just used the good old trimmer to make clean and simple cuts to set the tone for this fun card. You just cannot go wormng with the classics!
Yesterday was a busy day….I mailed out the NEW catalogs so if you have placed an order with me in the past 6 months…..you will be receiving some “HAPPY MAIL” from me….I know that it is a FUN time to have the actual catalog in your hands and look…and look – and guess what – soon enough it will be JUNE 1st!
I also have been working on what will be on my Product Share and I will have that ready for you soon as well. When the new catalog comes out, there is always so much to see, take in…one “heads up” about this new catalog, the RIBBON IS FANTASTIC ~ we have not had a surge of fab-o ribbons like this in years! (I know that you are going to enjoy it) as it is “practical” ribbon, meaning that you can easily use it for cards. (yep, there will be a ribbon share too)
See you in the morning for our 2 day post..Simple Saturday will get your weekend rolling~ I think that you are going to like it. Speaking of liking? – How did you like this card today – I adore the stamp and even though I am sad that it is retiring, I am happy that it has a home on Randall Lane as I will use it for many cards in the future years – IT’S A KEEPER….just like YOU!
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by Susan Itell | May 10, 2017 | PALS Blog Hops |
Welcome to the Pals Blog Hop for May 2017. We are thankful you stopped by to take a look at our 2017 Blog Hop monthly themes. This month we are featuring projects that are “stepped up” by using textures or fun techniques. We hope to provide you with lots of ideas and that you enjoy our creations.
You may just be starting the Blog Hop or may have come from the previous link from the Line-up on the Pals Blog Hop listing shown below. The full lineup will help you move along from blog to blog so you may see all the projects.
I am showing products that are “WALKING THE STAMPIN’ UP! PLANK” as we are in our final weeks of grabbing them! Todays card is for my wonderful godson that is graduating from College on Saturday and it was a perfect timing for todays theme of textures …techniques!
I think that we all have struggles with a masculine card…and yesterday I shared in my blog a Tuesday Tip with the “shaving cream” technique. Below you will see the “masterpiece” before I cut it down for the card.
I chose to just use 1 color of a re-inker….Delightful Dijon. Maybe I should have used several colors to make it more interesting…..I was super happy with keeping it super simple.
I hope that you watch the video below and then I hope that you go to the store and buy some shaving cream. Sometimes you can find a travel size!
I did it just like the video with the exception of using a paper plate. I know that there were many comments that it is messy but for me…I found that it really was not that bad. Remember, I am SUPER SIMPLE….so mess and simple are not like Peanut Butter & Jelly!
Here is the stamp set I used….I will hang on to this one. I love the fact that it is a photopolymer but more than that – I adore the uniqueness of it and the sentiments -they are perfect and LOVE the font!
You can see how incredibly simple this layout and card is. Again, simple works (well at least in my camp or should I say, “my world”) and you cannot go wrong with clean and basic cuts….love our Stampin’ Trimmer!
The DSP is from the Urban Underground DSP and I admit….I was LATE getting out of the gate with using it but then…..I saw the light! This is one CLASSIC and FABULOUS DSP offering! (too bad it is sold out) but for those of you that have some….I say – WOOT-WOOT to you!
I just had to add that heart…I know that Leighton is a young man with a bright future ahead but I just had to add that heart to let him know that wherever he is….HE IS IN MY HEART!
I hope that this post made you see that you can take a stamp set and make it work for your needs. This is what is GREAT about what we do – we all see things with different glasses on. I knew that this was coming to Randall Lane because my “peeps” love to travel.
You need to get hoppin’….there is so much talent out there – be a HUGE SPONGE AND SOAK IT UP!
Thanks for visiting. To continue with the hop, please refer to the Blog Hop Line-up below. We hope to see you on next month’s Pals Blog Hop!
- Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
- Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
- Karen Gooch at Inker’s Workshop
- Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven’s Retreat
- Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
- Lynn Tague at Beyond Beaches & Blessings
- Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
- Peggy Noe at Prettypapercards
- Susan Itell at Simple Stampin
- Jeanie Stark at Just Stampin’
- Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
- Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
- Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
- Karen Hallam at Karen’s Stampin’ Habit!
- Becky Retzer at Just in Thyme
- Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
- Karen Zaring Browning at Stamp With Me KZB
- Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
- Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin’
- Lisa Pretto at InkBig Academy Stamps
- Rae Harper-Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
- Angela Curry at Kindred Stampers
- Shawn de Oliveira at ShawnStamps.com
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by Susan Itell | May 9, 2017 | Tips and Tricks!!!, Uncategorized |
Tuesday are the days that I love to share with you a tip that will make you say….“That’s a great idea”…or something like “That would work for me” etc….and this is one that I hope that many of you will think about and say – Why didn’t I think of that and I am going to HOP ON IT!
Each and every year I get emails from people asking if I have a refill for a color that has been discontinued and I will share with you what I do.
When we have NEW COLORS come out (like our upcoming NEW In Colors) and I do buy the ink pads and I buy the refills. The way that I look at it is that I naturally need the ink pads to show and share with you the colors on my blog and I do buy the refills because I do find that I need to re-ink over the 2 years that the colors are available and also I use them for different techniques.
Below is a video that shares a technique using re-inkers. I ask you – have you ever tried this? Hmmmmm….I think that I need to do a post on it…..whatcha think?
I say…if you do not own the ink pads in the In Colors that are retiring…I say – this is a great solution to get them without breaking the bank or how about this – if you have a stamping friend – share the refills between yourselves as I am sure that you have DSP that has these colors in them.
I know that many people love the size of the “spots” as they are super handy to have on the go and YEP – these are the sizes of the cubes that are in the Paper Pumpkin. They are sooooooo cute!
Now let’s talk about cute 🙂 …..here is a picture that I just had to snap as I walked through the family room…we have some “Horse Neighbors” that use our riding ring and here are Milo and Rosie perched up on the sofa watching them out the window!
Now I say….life is rough for my fur babies….it is just not worth continually saying….off the couch when they seem so comfy! Have a great day and HIT THAT PAW PRINT and take me up on this tip!
p.s. – Sonny and Chris….I know…I know – Milo is a bit “bottom heavy” but my “perfect boy” has the abs of steel to not fall off the pillow!
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