Custom Texturz

Hello all! Today I want to show you a card that I made for the Stampin Addicts dinner and swap at the Stampin Up Leadership conference that I attended in January. I've had several people request directions, so I guess it's about time I posted this tutorial. :-)

Anyway, it's actually quite easy to create your own custom texturz! How cool is that? This was an idea that I came up with a little while ago and I'm sure I'll be using it a lot. :-)

To start, just take a scrap piece of card stock and emboss the desired image. Here I repeatedly stamped the nuts and bolts images from the stamp set Lots of Bots and then embossed with Silver Stampin Emboss Powder.

Next create the sandwich that will go through the Big Shot. . . . Tab 1, standard cutting pad (works best if you have a new one without cut marks), card stock with embossed image, foil, Silicone Rubber, and then the Texturz Impressions Pad. Basically you follow the recipe for the Texturz plate--just substitute a standard cutting pad for the texturz plate.

So line that up properly, not like in my picture :-), and then run it through the Big Shot. Too much fun!

Hint: When you add it to your project, use the Tombow Multi Adhesive--that way you won't tear the foil apart or smash the image.

Below is a notebook and pencil set that I made for my son using the same technique.

Stamps: Lots of Bots

Ink: Basic Black Craft Ink, Real Red marker, Not Quite Navy marker, Going Gray (with Blender Pen), Versmark

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, foil

Accessories: Clear and Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Mat Pack, Paper-Piercing tool, Corner Rounder punch, Big Shot, Clips Assortment, dimensionals, notebook, pencils, silver brad, Billboard alphabet and Movers and Shapers (Big Shot)

Hello Again: A Blog Tour

Welcome to stop #15 on the 2010 Stampin' Addicts Sale-A-Bration Blog Tour! This Blog Tour features 21 Stampin' Addicts members, each showcasing a different Sale-A-Bration item. Each stop on the tour gives you fun and fresh ideas for those items that you can earn for free during this great promotion!

If you are traveling forward in the hop, you just came from Holly's blog "Rubber Redneck" where she featured the set Forest Friends. Too cute!

Today I am showcasing the set Hello Again--a set from the big Idea Book and Catalog. Although this set is found in the main catalog, during Sale-A-Bration you can earn it for free! Not only are there 6 products you can earn for free in the SAB brochure, there this also a list of sets from the main catalog that are part of the promotion!

My first project was inspired by the upcoming holiday--Valentine's Day. Although simple, it has a lot of sparkle. :-) Fished card size is 4" by 4". Inside the 'shaker' part of the card I added Micro Beads and Dazzling Diamonds (glitter). The sentiment is from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The next project showcases this cute little butterfly. Finished card size is 5 1/4" by 3 3/4". To give the butterflies some wings and dimension, I stamped the butterflies on the Whisper White card stock and then again on vellum paper. I embossed with Iridescent Ice, cut out the butterflies, and carefully added them to the card. These butterflies are ready to take flight!

I am excited to share this last project! If you've ever made a slider card, you know how fun it is to have a little surprise pop up. . . . Well I thought I would be extra fun to have a sweet treat pop up. :-) I love the new Treat Cups from Stampin Up, so I combined the two ideas and came up with this. Closed. . . .

Gently pull on the ribbons, and then, surprise, a little note, AND a fun treat!

The tag on the top pulls out to allow you to eat the candy without tearing any paper. This project also features the Scallop Trim Border punch which is another item you can earn for free during Sale-A-Bration!

Check back next week for more details, chit chat, and full recipes for each of these projects!

Next on the Blog Tour is Sarah's blog Lily's Ink Pad where she will be showcasing the set Just Football.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed seeing these projects made using the set Hello Again.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I thought I would pop in and share the card I sent out this year. I used Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio to create it. It was so easy! I even surprised myself at how quickly it came together--Close to Cocoa for the background, a little Designer Paper, some text, and a few snowflake stamps. Drop in the pictures (and crop right in the program) and I'm done! Fabulous time saver for a hectic time of year. :-)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Simple Shimmer

Popping in with a simple Christmas card! This card uses the hostess set Patterned Pines and the sentiment set Four the Holidays--both sets are from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

I started by using the Spritzing Shimmer Technique on the Old Olive card stock. You can read more about that in THIS post. While that dried, I inked the tree and the sentiment using Old Olive ink and then added a little Shimmer Paint with a sponge before I stamped the images. Read more about that HERE. Using these techniques, I have a subtle shimmer on everything that is green.

After everything dried, I adhered the Whisper White layer to the Old Olive layer. I used my paper piercing tool to poke a few holes at the edges of the tree, and then I threaded Silver Elastic Cord through. I used two dimensionals to keep the ends of the cord in place on the back, and a few more dimensionals to add the Old Olive layer to the card base.

A simple card with a few details to add just a little bling. :-)

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Four the Holidays

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Old Olive and Whisper White

Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Spray Bottle, rubbing alcohol, sponge dauber, Silver Elastic cord, paper piercing tool, dimensionals

Lots of Baby

Yes, it really is me again! Thanks for sticking with me even though it's been awhile. It's been a very crazy few months here at our house. The 'highlights' include computer problems, H1N1 for the whole family, 2 rooms in our house flooding, and two visits to the ER--one for my husband's ankle and most recently for me. . . . My visit came after I was mopping my kitchen floor and woke up to find myself flat on my back with my almost 2 year old daughter running over to try to put my glasses on. After a scan it was confirmed that I 'only' had a concussion. So if you've ever wondered if housework is dangerous. . . . Now you know! ;-) Despite everything that has happened, I am happy to say that everyone (and our house) is now feeling much better!

On to the crafting. . . . Last week I was able to fill a special order for a lady who wanted to make a baby shower she was throwing for her friend really special. Here are pictures of most of the items that I made for her. You can see the master list below of all the supplies I used.

My inspiration came from the Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper (now discontinued). The gender of the baby is unknown, and I like this paper because I thought it was gender-neutral and had a delicate feel that was perfect for a baby.

This project series is also a good example of why I love Stampin Up. . . It is so easy to make coordinated projects! I started by choosing the Designer Series paper, which gave me my color pallet. Next I added the matching inks and accessories. Then it was easy to create coordinated projects that give a cohesive feeling to the party decorations.

The picture at the very top shows the nugget boxes that were the favors for each guest to take home. I used the Stampin' Up! Matchbox Big Shot die and the stamp set Matchbox Messages to make these.

This is a tin that I decorated to be part of the main table. The star is a piece of chipboard covered with Certainly Celery card stock. You can purchase these TINS from the Clearance Rack over at Stampin Up for only 99 cents each!

Inside the tin, there is an accordion 'book' that has different pockets. The accordion sits on the main table with the tags. Each of the guests can write some baby advice, a note to the mom, or anything they like. They put the tag in one of the pockets, and then after the party the accordion book with all the personalized tags goes back into the tin and makes a nice gift for the mother.

This Top Note die box was a gift for the grandmother. How thoughtful of the hostess to include a gift for her! The box holds 8 Hershey Nuggets individually wrapped with coordinating papers. The 'charm' is just two stars punched from Brushed Silver card stock and then embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss powder three times. After embossing, I glued the stars back to back and used my paper piercing tool to poke a hole and thread the linen thread through.

Here is the frame that was also part of the main table. I left the right and left sides open for the mother to fill. She could include the shower invitation, a baby announcement, and/or baby pictures. The words are actually custom Decor Elements that are on top of the glass. I used part of a Decor Elements Sheet, spray painted it shiny silver (despite what it looks like in the picture!), and then ran it through the Big Shot using the Billboard decorative strip.

And here is a close-up. The white star is a rub-on. This could also be adapted to make a cute card layout too!

And last, here are the Food Name Cards. The flowers were made using the Trio Flower punch.

Since the length of this post is already so long, I didn't include all the creative details. If you do have questions about any of these projects, please contact me.

Stamps: Matchbox Messages

Ink: Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink markers

Paper: Delicate Dots DSP, So Saffron Patterns DSP, Brushed Silver, Window Sheets Medium, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Accessories: Whisper White 5/8" satin ribbon, linen thread, Bashful Blue 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Very Vanilla 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Certainly Celery twill ribbon, So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, 1/4" Circle punch, 1" circle punch, Trio Flower punch, Star punch, Tag Corner punch, Corner Rounder punch, Sizzix Big Shot, Matchbox die, Top Note die, Billboard die, Decor Elements Sheets, paper piercing tool, dimensionals

Textured Birthday

Last week was my husband's birthday, and this is the card I made for him. Now I find male cards difficult to make in general, but for some reason making a card for my hubby is the hardest! Not really sure why. . . but this one did get the stamp of approval. . . . pun intended. :-)

Anyway, I used my texture plate from the Texture Plates Kit #4 to get the wood grain look. I started by inking the texture plate with Chocolate Chip ink. Then I carefully placed my 4 1/4" by 4 1/4" Close to Cocoa paper on the texture plate, placed a piece of typing paper over the top, and then ran it through the Big Shot.

Next I accessorized with Hemp Twine and a Very Vanilla Jumbo Brad. The Happy Birthday is from a now retired set called More Thoughts--I used it because it is the most masculine Happy Birthday stamp I own. :-) I used my cutter kit to distress the edges of the Very Vanilla layer and then popped it up on dimensionals.

Note: If you don't have the Big Shot, you could also make a very similar card by using the Woodgrain Background stamp.

Stamps: More Thoughts
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Texture Plates Kit #4, Big Shot, Corner Rounder punch, Hemp Twine, 5/16" Very Vanilla Jumbo Brad, cutter kit, dimensionals

Lots of Promotions!

You've got to love a good sale, right? :-) Well if haven't heard, Stampin Up has some exciting things going on right now. First, there's a new Clearance Rack in the online store! How cool is that?! Click HERE to see the new Clearance Rack. This section is only while supplies last and will be updated with new items as old ones sell out.


Next up is the Deal of the Week! During October there will once again be a new deal each week! This week there are 3 punches on sale: the 5-Petal Flower punch ($10.99), the My Way punch ($11.99), and the Trio Flower punch ($10.99). These prices are available until Oct 12 at 9:50am. Click HERE to see.


To purchase any of these, contact me or go to my online store. Follow this link: http://www.allison.stampinup.net/ and then click on "shop now" in the top right. Note: the sale price will be updated once you add the item to your cart.

Also, there is an exciting new product My Digital Studio! This is a digital paper crafting solution. You can easily create cards, scrapbook pages, albums, flyers, invitations, and the list goes on! I will be showing more about this program, but if you have any questions about what it is or what it includes, please contact me. You can view a commercial about it HERE.



And just a reminder that the Holiday Mini Catalog is still current. Click HERE to view. The products in this catalog will only be available until Jan 4, 2010.


To purchase any of these, contact me or go to my online store. Follow this link: http://www.allison.stampinup.net/ and then click on "shop now" in the top right. Happy stamping everyone!

Shimmery Pines

My first Christmas card of the year. . . and certainly not my last! So, if you still haven't tried the shimmer paints--you must! :-) I saw THIS challenge over on Stampin' Addicts (fabulous site by the way) and thought I would try the Spritzing Shimmer technique. It is very simple, and the results are absolutely gorgeous!

Fill a little spray bottle (1-2oz) with rubbing alcohol and then add a little (4-8 drops) shimmer paint. Mix, and then start spritzing. Warning, possibly addicting. :-) All of the Old Olive card stock, including the base, was spritzed with shimmer paint. I love the way it looks because it is a very pretty glitter look without being over the top. (Hard to see in the pictures.) In other words you don't feel that by touching the card, you will soon be covered head to toe in glitter. :-)

The tress are from the Holiday Mini Catalog hostess set Patterned Pines and they also have shimmer paint. For the tress and the sentiment (from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes) I inked my stamp and then sponged on the shimmer paint. See THIS post if you'd like more info about that technique.

The layout for this card came from Sketch Challenge 118 over at Stamping 411. Another great website! I loved the sketch so I thought I would play along. There are dimensionals under the small tree, the Old Olive circle, and the white layer. Finished card size is 3 3/4" by 5 1/2". Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Spray bottle, rubbing alcohol, Circle Scissors Plus, 1/4" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, sponge dauber, dimensionals

Cupcake Birthday

Happy Monday! Here is a card I made for the CAS34 challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.

All of the white you see is Glossy card stock--one of my favorite products. :-) I used Basic Black craft ink to stamp the cupcake, embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, and then colored. I used Soft Suede, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Bermuda Bay, and Green Galore markers. To color the frosting, I used a Blender Pen and ink from the top of my Regal Rose stamp pad.

After I let that dry a minute, I used Frost White shimmer paint to give the flame and the sprinkles a little sparkle. To apply the shimmer paint, I used a toothpick and carefully applied the paint to those small areas.

I used my Circle Scissors Plus to cut the circles. The white circle is approx 1 7/8" in diameter, and the Soft Suede circle is approx 2 1/8" in diameter. The finishing touch is the Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon. Finished card size is 4 1/4" by 4 1/4".

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes

Ink: Basic Black Craft pad; Soft Suede, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Bermuda Bay, and Green Galore markers; Regal Rose Classic pad

Paper: Glossy White, Soft Suede

Accessories: Blender Pen, Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon, shimmer paint, Circle Scissors Plus, heat tool, Clear EP, dimensionals

Monkey Birthday

Just popping in today with a Birthday card! This cute monkey is from the set Sock Monkey, and the sentiment is from the set On Your Birthday.

The black lines for the monkey and his hat are embossed to give the card an extra little 'bling'. I think I've mentioned this before, but a little trick I learned a while ago, is to use Black Craft ink and then emboss with clear embossing powder (EP)--MUCH easier to use than black EP! Stray specks of clear EP just don't show as much as stray specks of black EP.

Next I used my Real Red marker, Chocolate Chip marker, and a blender pen and Close to Cocoa ink pad to color the monkey. I sponged around the Very Vanilla card stock and embossed the "Happy Birthday" with Real Red Craft ink and Clear EP. The monkey is up on dimensionals.

Note: I used the same basic layout for this card that I used HERE for this wedding card. Shows how just changing the colors and the focal element can make you feel like you have a completely different card!

Finished card size is 5" by 5".

Stamps: Sock Monkey, On Your Birthday
Ink: Basic Black Craft Ink, Close to Cocoa, Real Red Craft Ink, Real Red marker, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Real Red brads, Blender Pen, Clear EP, embossing buddy, heat tool, sponge, dimensionals