Card Organizer

Last week, I received the final gift from my secret stamper for this quarter. It reminded me that I still needed to come up with a June gift for my person. While looking around for ideas, I was reminded that I had bookmarked this tutorial by Dannie on her blog.

And how did I spend my Friday night?! By making my very own card organizer! This one is made from Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink cardstock and the Tea Party designer paper. I used the flower stamp from Darling Dots, a level 1 hostess set in the current catalog (going buh-bye June 30th). The large clear rhinestone brad fit perfectly in the flower center! I added some dividers to mine and used the tab punch. It's sooooooo cute. I love mine! Go see Dannie's tutorial and make one of your very own!

Decor Elements

I found this Post-It brand organizer next to the Post-It Notes at Target and thought it would look cute with some Decor Elements added. One of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is a program they have called Bulk Buy. It allows demonstrators to purchase certain items in a larger quantity than what is available in the catalog so we are able to share more products with our customers in stamp camps and workshops. These chocolate chip flowers were made available to us so that we can show you how the Decor Elements are applied and how they can be used to decorate all sorts of things! I added some taffeta ribbon and a chocolate chip button to the bottom to cover up the logo and a big space along the bottom. I sent this to my secret stamper today, along with another gift item. Hope she'll like it!

Honorable Mention Cards

I had been working on cards to prepare for my June stamp camp, and these are some of the fruits of that effort. However, these cards didn't make the final cut for camp projects. Camp isn't until June 20th so I figured I'd post these now and post the camp cards after camp.

This card uses the Upsy Daisy stamp set and the birthday wishes greeting from WOW Flowers. This is adapted a bit from a card on Splitcoast. I was trying to find a good way to use up this beautiful Bella Rose DSP before it retires at the end of the month.

The Best Wishes card would make a great wedding card or anniversary card. It is heat embossed in silver on silver cardstock. The rose is from Fifth Avenue Floral and the greeting is from Sincere Salutations. The ribbon is white organza. It's a pretty card and fairly simple to stamp, but we just made a wedding card last month. This might find its way into a future camp, but it just wasn't right for this month. I'll give this card at a wedding reception this weekend!

The button die card is a modified version of Kimberly Van Diepen's card. From the looks of my cards, I think I need ribbon to make a card complete. The colors and buttons struck me as fit for a baby card so I added the baby greeting from the SAB stamp set. After Hurricane Ike, we're preparing for a baby boom here in the Houston area. One can't have too many baby cards on hand right now. I love the SAB So Saffron and Certainly Celery ribbons. I'm not sure what I'll do when I run out! Guess I'll have to find a new favorite from the new catalog. That probably won't be too difficult!

I love the color combo in the Sweet Always DSP. It's really kind of wild and unusual, but I think this card turned out so cute. I made one of these quilt cards, and then I couldn't stop! You punch out twelve squares using the 1-3/8" square punch. Adhere them to a scrap piece of cardstock and run it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. I've seen some with faux stitching on them, but I prefer to keep mine clean and simple. I folded down the prongs on the back of the grommet and just tied the ribbon through the middle. The greeting is from one of the brand new stamp sets in the new Stampin' Up! 2009-2010 catalog called Teeny Tiny Wishes. It is a wonderful set. Just about every holiday or greeting is accounted for in that set. The size of the greetings works great with the word window punch as well as the new modern label punch from the new catty.

Until next post,

Happy Stamping!

Cards for Heroes Blog Hop!

Welcome, and thank you for participating in the Card for Heroes Blog Hop! If you have landed here in the middle of the hop, I encourage you to start at the "top of the hop" at cardsforheroes.org! There are many great blogs to check out to see beautiful card samples and learn more about what cardsforheroes.org is all about! Hop 'til you drop!

This is a card I made in a patriotic theme. It is the same layout as the Father's Day card posted here, but I have used Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White, and Basic Gray with silver brads. The stars are punched using the Stars #2 die with the Big Shot, but the two coordinating star punches from Stampin' Up! would make this card a breeze to make as well. By changing the greeting and colors, the card has a totally different feel.

I made this card to send as an "Any Hero" card as part of the 25+2 challenge. The thank you greeting seemed appropriate to tell a soldier thank you for serving! I am new to cardsforheroes.org, but I am very excited about participating with the organization. Stamping is a great hobby for me, but making cards for our nation's heroes brings more meaning to it. I make many more cards that I can use personally, and it is great to share cards with soldiers who appreciate them so much. If you wonder how much, check out the hero blog on the website!

The next blog on the hop is that of Marianne Walker in Eugene, Oregon. She is the product specialist for Copic Markers and designs stamps for Our Craft Lounge. She is very talented and has FANTASTIC tips on coloring and shading with Copic Markers on her blog. Her work is beautiful!

Hop on over to Marianne's blog,

"I Like Markers"!

Cards for Heroes

Tonight I had some time to work on some Cards for Heroes. When preparing for my May stamp camp, I was doing a lot of experimenting with the brayered roses technique. I was trying to see how the different color combinations would work together, and then I picked my favorite for the camp project. After all the experimenting, I had ten extra brayered roses. I paired these with some Tangerine Tango cardstock and the Thinking of You greeting from Sincere Salutations to make several cards to send to cardsforheroes.org.

New Take on an Old Favorite

I had been thinking about this card for a while. It's a new take on an old favorite. We made a pink version of this card at Penny's camp quite some time ago, and I had been thinking about changing the colors up and using some clear rhinestone brads. This card uses the 5-Petal Flower Punch and the Boho Blossoms Punch (thanks to Stacey for sharing her toys!). The greeting is from the Heard from the Heart stamp set. I inked it up with Basic Gray and removed the bottom part of the greeting with a baby wipe. You can also use a Blender Pen to do the same.

May Stamp Camp!

On Saturday, we stamped, stamped, stamped. And then stamped some more! Wow! Hope you enjoy the recap!

This first card that we made is taken from my buddy, Penny. It's a great little layout that can be used with all different designer papers, punches, and greetings. I made a couple using a Birthday Wishes greeting for birthday cards. I used this layout with some Candy Lane DSP and the Full Heart Punch with a LOVE greeting and I Miss You greeting for some cardsforheroes.org. The So Saffron card was cased from Splitcoast Stampers. I've been told that I love Chocolate Chip, and when challenged, I couldn't have a camp and not use Chocolate Chip! The stamps are from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I made up my extras and substituted an "I Miss You" greeting and will send them to cardsforheroes.org.

One of my stampers had a list minute request for graduation cards....shame on me for not thinking of it first. Since I don't own a graduation stamp set, per se, I improvised. The template for this mortar board gift card holder is something I came across on Splitcoast. I reduced the template on a copy machine to about 85% so it still has room for the giftcard yet will fit inside a standard medium envelope!

You print the template on cardstock and cut it out. It's really that simple. It can be made in any school colors, but we used Basic Gray to keep it generic. The little note inside allows space to write a short congratulatory note, or you can include a gift card or cash in the little pocket.

This wedding gown card is gorgeous in person. One of my stampers requested to make this card using Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, and Certainly Celery to match her daughter's wedding colors. It looked great as well. I wish I had taken a photo of it to share with you! It is cased from Sharon Field and she so graciously provided instructions on her blog.

Another late addition to camp was this Father's Day card. Since I wasn't sure we'd be able to have June camp prior to Father's Day, we needed to make a card. As I was told, you can't give Mom an awesome homemade card and then get Dad the 99cent card from Wal-mart! True, true! Inspiration for this card came from Splitcoast, but I didn't have any design paper that really worked for Father's Day. My card turned out completely different than the inspiration cards that I started from, and my stampers were really happy with the design.

Again, we use Chocolate Chip! The background is Sahara Sand cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Texturz Plate so it gives a wood grain look (I want to try this on Kraft to see if looks like old barn wood). The stars were also punched using the Big Shot Stars #2 die. They could also be made using the two star punches offered by Stampin' Up! The greeting is from a retired stamp set, but I have kept it for its Father's Day and Mother's Day greetings! When you find a great set, you just have to hold onto it!

Patty Bennett shared a tutorial on this brayered rose technique using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and a brayer. My stampers loved this card! We used Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal inks. This card also turns out beautifully when stamping a greeting from the Sincere Salutations stamp set directly onto the white background.

The two baby cards that we stamped were inspired by a similar pink card on Splitcoast by stampininutah, but they were modified to be more clean and simple. I had to make a blue card as well because you never know which you might need. Stampers were given the option to make either one, but nearly all of them loved it so much that they made both! The cards are 4-1/4" square. It's a cute little size that is interesting and will still fit in a standard medium envelope.