Lovely As a Tree Mojo/ Mojo Monday #288

Ah, it feels good to get back into the Mojo Monday groove.  It's such fun to start the week off with a little crafty inspiration.  I went over to the Mojo Monday site this morning knowing I needed to make a sympathy card.  I think their sketch lends itself nicely to the simple elegance I like in any sympathy card.  For this one, I took out an old favorite.  Lovely as a Tree was the very first stamp set I ever bought from Stampin' Up.  It's also been in the catalog longer than any other current set.  I think you can see why.  Its simple beauty makes it just so versatile.  The best part was using this specific stamp with my new ink pads for the first time. In the past, it was a pretty difficult stamp to ink evenly.  I knew that I would have to stamp a few times to get an image that had a complete center.  Well, no more!  This one was a first shot. :) I know the super juicy ink pads take a bit to get used to, but boy do I love them.

Masculine Bird Birthday/ Mojo Monday 179

Today I set myself a few extra challenges to go with the Mojo Monday sketch. When I saw the layout I told myself I needed to use Springtime Vintage as the designer paper square & that my three dots would be eyelets. That didn't give me the impression that I'd be making a masculine card, but that's exactly where I ended up. Springtime Vintage is pretty girly, but these green stripes aren't! I also brought out a few old friends. I used Lovely as a Tree in the background (the first SU set I ever bought) and dusted off my Cajun Craze paper. Far too often I find that I only bring this great color out for fall cards. I had the same issue with Really Rust. Every now and then, it's important to remind myself that it's a great color all the time! Otherwise, why would I have used it as the inspiration for my house color?

Bag Turned Card

Today's challenge was to change the Glimmer Bag from a while back into a card. Folks really seem to like the bag, so I wanted to create an opportunity for people to make a card version even if they aren't hosting or attending one of my bag classes.

I think it turned out pretty well. Each time I create a big tree from Lovely as a Tree's pine, I find it goes a little better. This time around I did a lot more "second generation" stamping. In other words, I didn't re-ink each time before stamping. Just like on the bag, I mixed re-inker with shimmer paint to stamp the ornament. This time I used the ornament from Tags Til Christmas instead of one from Delightful Decorations. Just a reminder that right now if you order both Tags Til Christmas & the Ornament Punch you will save 20% on both! If you already have the Ornament Punch you can replace it with the Decorative Label Punch for the same deal.

I'm off to get ready for another Christmas Card Class tonight at a friend's home. If you would like to get your friends together for a card or bag class this holiday season, contact me & we'll set you up with an evening or afternoon of fun. For that matter, I even do mornings. :)

Glimmer Bag

It's time for me to start putting together projects for my upcoming Christmas bag classes. I have a few scheduled for November and plenty of room for more. If you find you're inspired by these projects than it's easy to sign up to host a class of your own!

I found these great little gold bags while shopping around for inspiration. There a little taller than the bags I usually use for classes, but I really like them. They have a smooth & glossy feel to them that just makes things pop!

Almost everything on this bag has an element of glimmer to it. The top & bottom ornaments are stamped using a mixture of ink & Shimmer Paint while the center one is made out of our great gold cardstock. Then, of course, I had to add in one of our Glimmer Brads to complete the sentiment. The bag is so large I'm afraid it didn't photograph as well as I would have liked. You'll just have to check it out at a class soon! :)

Perfect Details Xmas

I warned you that you would see the technique using Texturz plates & ink again, but I bet you didn't expect it this soon! I just couldn't resist when I saw the Mojo Monday sketch for today. The Perfect Details Texturz plate just fit so nicely with the ornament I wanted to use from Delightful Decorations. Recently I saw a card that used the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree to create a bunch of boughs. As much as I LOVE that set, I was so excited to see something brand new to do with it. Again, I thought this sketch was a great opportunity to put that idea to use. The little swirled accents are bits punched from the smaller swirl in the Priceless set. It all just seemed to work together far too well to leave any one piece out for today. Now, if I could just focus and finish my projects for our Halloween class this weekend!

Nutty for You

Back again! I've been up in the mountains for the last five days away from computers & all things stamping. That doesn't mean I wasn't plotting new cards though!

I'm pretty excited about this little gem. It came to me bit by bit over the weekend. Today is my nephew's birthday and he happens to be all about squirrels. With that in mind, how could I not think of the little guy from Bouquet Bunch? After all, he is one of the main reasons I bought the set. But, I knew he wasn't big enough to pull off a card all of his own. Then, it struck me! The ornament punch could so easily become an acorn. Add in a few multi-color oak leaves for good measure and there you have it. I even got to play a little with River Rock and found that it makes a great acorn base. More tomorrow...right now I have to come to terms with the fact that it's Tuesday even though it sure feels like a Monday!

Up, Up, and Away

I promised more playing with punches today & here you have it. While trying to create my octopus from yesterday, I discovered that the Ornament Punch makes a lovely hot air balloon. And what is a balloon with out a basket? This little basket comes from the Bouquet Bunch flower pot. I just didn't ink the ribbon around it's middle or the lower lip of the pot.

I combined it with my favorite sky technique (which just uses a torn paper towel & a sponge) and my ever faithful Lovely as a Tree set to give the balloon a place to explore. I even branched out and utilized Soft Suede, a color I use rarely. Now that I know it will be around for a long time, I need to make friends with it. It's one thing to ignore an In Color that only has a year lifespan & quite another to neglect a part of the enduring pallet!

Coffee Filter Leaves

Grrr...I'm frustrated with this one. I really like the concept & creating the background using reinkers & a coffee filter was good fun, but I'm disappointed at my own execution this time around. Stampin' Dimensionals obviously don't work with coffee filters---you can see right through to them. However, I had already spent so much time futzing around with the technique that I really didn't have enough to redo the whole thing. Alas. Oh, I also forgot to adhere my twill tape under all the layers, so I had to fudge that too!! What a mess. At least folks in class are bound to do a better job than I did! This card will be one of those featured in my Man Card theme class this Sunday. Be prepared for some inky fingers, ladies. Or, bring gloves! :)

Lovely as a Tree Silver Emboss

Sorry for the extended absence! While I usually love snow, I am a little cranky with the latest spring storm to hit Colorado. To make a long story (and even longer night) short, I ended up stuck in the Kansas City airport for a full night. I feel like I'm just starting to get caught up again!

Enough of my bickering though... Today's card is a remake/remodel of a card I made for class several months ago (before I started blogging). Lovely as a Tree was the first set I ever purchased from Stampin' Up & the fact that I still use it all the time is a testament to its versatility. The oak leaves are elegant embossed in silver for a simple sympathy card. I like the strength of the full oak tree as well as a symbol of comfort. The "original" version of this card was in Kraft/Black with no embossing & the opposite orientation. I think I like round two a bit better.

Winter Fun Scrapbook Page

Okay, I'm branching out. This month I have a new scrapbooking group starting up & so I need to get some practice in making scrapbook pages using Stampin' Up materials. I thought I would start small...6x6 pages seem the way to go for me. Perhaps I'll upgrade with time & practice. I had a lot of fun making this one, but I have stepped out of my comfort zone a bit. At least I still get to use my old friends, just in a new format. Lovely as a Tree was the first stamp set I ever bought from Stampin' Up and remains my all time favorite. I think it goes quite nicely with the real tree from Rocky Mountain National Park.