Hello Stamping Friends!
I hope you've enjoyed your weekend; it's been a very hot one, here! Actually, the whole past week has been quite hot and muggy – Vancouver is known for it's humidity – and the upcoming week will be more of the same! So, that's about it for my explanation of why I haven't been blogging – it's been too hot to stay indoors, and in front of the computer 🙂
Do you attend card classes with me, or with another demonstrator? Get together with your friends and spend some quality crafting time? I just held a class on Friday, and we all mentioned how it seemed like it had been forever since we'd seen each other! Usually I hold classes every week, but with the summer holidays, it's been more sporadic. I just love getting together with my lovely customers and doing some stamping; we enjoy the crafting part of the evening, but also the social time just as much! Amanda was telling us about getting ready for her 'Dirty Dash' competition (everyone dresses in funny costumes, and races around a mud-filled obstacle course – all in the name of fun & fundraising!); Debbie was talking about her sister's baby shower that was happening the next day, and keeping her little girls entertained over the summer; and Lynn was feeling rushed as she arrived late, due to being out in a friend's boat, and the engine dying!
So you see, if you don't already take part in classes, you should consider signing up; it's more than just putting together cards, it's about friendships, stories, laughs and sharing with people with whom you share a common bond. 🙂
The class on Friday was Yeah, Baby – All About Babies (which I figured was a natural progression, since the class before that was all about Weddings! LOL). We had fun getting creative with the 'Something for Baby' and the matching 'Baby's First' Framelits. Here's what we made:
This card has soft colours that are gender neutral, so if you need a 'new baby' card in a hurry, you can use this one! The card base is Smoky Slate, with a panel of 'Lullaby' DSP in Crisp Cantaloupe with the cutest little hearts on it! The middle panel of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock is embossed using a retired Decorative Edges embossing folder; too bad it's retired – it works perfectly with the hearts on the DSP. The baby carriage is stamped in Lost Lagoon, and of course cut out with the Big Shot & Baby's First Framelits Die. Have I told you before how much I love matching framelits?!! I mean, I don't 'hate' fussy cutting, but a framelit/die makes the image look much more professional, in my opinion (based, of course, on the quality of my fussy-cutting!). The sentiments are from Petite Pairs stamp set, in Lost Lagoon ink, and cut using the Banner Framelits
Pistachio Pudding is another good gender neutral colour; that's what we used here, with Whisper White. Each of the squares on the right have an image stamped & popped up with dimensionals. The long panel of Whisper White on the left is embossing with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. The 'Sweet Baby' sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, and cut using the *matching* (yippee!) Bitty Banners Framelits set. (can you see how easily this card goes together?!) The edges of each piece of Whisper White is sponged with Crisp Cantaloupe ink using a sponge dauber to add some depth.
For this next card, I just had to go with the ducky – and what else – a bath tub! It just seemed right 🙂
And of course no ducky tub is complete without bubbles!! This paper from the Lullaby DSP pack reminded me of wallpaper, so I used that on top of a card base of Coastal Cabana. The bath tub I made by using the largest of the Apothecary Framelits dies, and cutting in in half; you get 2 tubs from one piece! I then sponged the edges with Coastal Cabana, and popped it on top of the DSP with dimensionals. The duckies were stamped in Daffodil Delight and Coastal Cabana; the little socks are stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe. I needed something else to decorate the 'wall', but didn't want anything big….so I decided to make a picture frame! I used a retired baby set to stamp the baby's face in Baked Brown Sugar, punched it out with the Petite Curly Label punch, used the 1" Square punch for the 'frame' of Hello Honey, and topped the picture with a bow made of Thick Baker's Twine in Coastal Cabana.
The bubbles were punched using the 1/2" Circle Punch, and the smallest of the retired Itty Bitty Punch Pack circle, using Coastal Cabana card stock and Vellum card stock. Some I layered together, and adhered them to the bath tub using glue stick and Tombow liquid glue. I used the uni-ball Signo Gel Pen for the 'shine' on the bubbles.
Here's a close up of the bubbles, so you can see the layers:
This next card is made with one of last year's Single Stamps – and it's perfect for this class!
How cute is this?! I saw a similar card done by another demo, Mary Fish, and wanted to use it for this class – so here's mine. The (retired) single stamp is called 'Oh, Baby!'; and it's stamped in Versa Mark and Black ink, and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. (If I had black embossing powder, I would've been able to skip the black ink). I used the Daffodil Yellow polka dots from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack; the rest of the card is in Whisper White, Basic Black and Daffodil Yellow. The flower is stamped with the Petite Petals set and punched with the matching Petite Petals punch. Did you know that you can make your own glimmer brads? Yup – that's what I did! I needed a black glimmer brad, so I took a grey one, covered it in Versa Mark ink, then Heat & Stick Powder and heated it with my Heat Gun. Then, I sprinkled the brad with Black Stampin' Glitter from last Hallowe'en! Presto – a black glimmer brad!! You can do this with any colour of embossing powder (you don't need the Heat & Stick powder for that) or glitter, so your brad will match your project perfectly!
**Demo tip – in preperation for embossing, make sure you rub your cardstock with your Embossing Buddy. This will ensure that you have no residual finger prints or static on your page that your embossing powder will stick to – where you don't want it to!
So that's how we spent our Friday night – what fun!! 🙂
Before I go, I just want to remind you of the terrific deal on now on Designer Series Paper – BUY 3, GET ONE FREE! That's a savings of $13.95 here in Canada – money you could put towards another ink pad, perhaps? Or a stamp set that's on your wish list? 🙂 This offer EXPIRES JULY 31ST, SO ORDER NOW so you won't be sad!
Here are the products I used in the above cards; if you'd like to order them, simply click on the picture(s), and you'll be taken directly to my on line store. You can also call or email me to place your order – I'm happy to do that for you! My contact infor is 604.298.0472 or debsmart@shaw.ca
I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon! In the meantime – Happy Stamping!
