PPA #317

I have been so absent from pretty much everything for the last few weeks.  Needless to say, I am so ready for fall.  Back to school, jeans, falling leaves to hide the dead grass that the drought has gifted us with, and more time to play with my stuff.

What better way to get started than this beautiful color challenge created by Michelle Quinno.  Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry are as warm and rich as the colors of the season can get.

I won't bore you with my wordiness today, because I only have ten minutes to get this posted before I have to pick my little guy up from school (and I thought back to school meant more time for mommy... where did the day go?).  So without further delay, here you go:

The colors immediately made me think of New England foliage, and of course pumpkins, so what better way to use them than with this simple scene from Stampin' Up!'s Happy Scenes stamp set.

Happy fall everyone!  I hope to be back more consistently as we settle back into back to school life and more mommy time.  :)

PPA #312

For this week's PPA, I decided to go into the archives and try to use up some retired designer series paper.  I love the designer series paper that Stampin' Up! has to offer, but find myself so afraid to use it because once I do - it's gone.  I need to get over that fear, but knowing me the way I do, I have to start with baby steps.

So baby step #1 was to use some retired paper that featured retired in colors.  I have all the ink, markers and card stock for the in colors that I have purchased since I started stamping, but I rarely use them because none of the new stuff tends to coordinate.  And especially now that I'm a demonstrator, I feel like I have to focus on new products so I can maybe sell some of this stuff.  Even though I am first and foremost a hobby demonstrator, I do have a few neighborhood customers and the more I can sell to them, the more I can buy for myself.

I stumbled upon this week's design by accident.  I was looking for some old paper that I could use with some Wisteria Wonder ribbon, and found a sheet from the Birds of a Feather DSP that featured flamingos in Primrose Petals.  Flamingos are such a hot item in the new annual catalog.  I have not purchased any of the flamingo-related products, and thought this would be a fun way to get in on the action while conquering my DSP fears.

And here it is... I had to cheat a little and cut out the flamingo using my Cricut machine, but this was such a fun and surprising idea, I couldn't resist.  

I took the "retired" theme so seriously, you would have thought it was the challenge for PPA #312.  Here are the products I used:

• Cardstock: Whisper White, Midnight Muse (retired), Primrose Petals (retired)
• Stampin' Write Marker in Midnight Muse (retired)
• Stampin' Up Very Punny stamp set (retired, from 2007, well before my stamping days began, but gifted to me by my aunt)... I just colored the sentiment part of the stamp with the marker and stamped it onto Whisper White.  The actual stamp had a really cute pig, but didn't quite go with the theme
• Birds of a Feather designer series paper (retired)
• Ribbon is generic white satin ribbon bought from Michael's
• Flamingo was cut out using my Cricut machine
• 1.5" circle punch (not retired!)
• Circle Nesting dies (not retired!)

Thanks for letting me play with the PPA!  I am having so much fun - especially when I love the card I come up with!

PPA #311

Unlike last week, where I raced to get my PPA entry posted on time, I'm a bit ahead of the game this week!  Per usual, it took a few attempts for me to get this card right enough to share.  My first attempt at highlighting Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, and Marina Mist was a totally different concept and the reality looked nothing like my vision.  No surprise there, but disappointing nonetheless.

I did two different versions of this card.  One had the wreath stamped on some Whisper White, with a corner punch adding a little flair.  It felt a little flat to me, so I decided to die cut the wreath and pop it with some dimensionals.

I used the blender pen to color in the bow and the flower near the sentiment, and then some crystal effects to give them some more depth.  With the colors being so subtle, I think this technique ended up washing it out a little too much, but I also think if I just used the marker with no dilution, it wouldn't have any nuance.

And lastly, I am working on my wet embossing technique.  My first try resulted in a crisper sentiment, but lots of embossing dust in the background.  My second attempt was a little more messy on the stamped image, but the embossing buddy helped clean up the other messiness.

Products used:

• Cardstock in Smoky Slate and Whisper White
• Classic Stampin' Pads in Smoky Slate (for the wreath), Marina Mist (for the bow), and Pink Pirouette (for the flower)
• Versamark Ink
• White embossing powder
• Crystal Effects
• Blender Pen
• Stampin' Write markers in Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Pistachio Pudding (retired), and So Saffron
• Weather Together and Circle of Spring stamp sets
• Wonderful Wreath framelits

Someday soon, hopefully once my son is back in school, I will post all the versions that I attempt to get me to my end result.  You know, for your amusement.

PPA #310

It may be hard to believe, since I'm typing this at 4:00 in the afternoon on the day before the PPA deadline, but I was actually pretty ahead of the game this week.  I got my card done last week.  But my weekend was hectic, and it has just been so darn hot out.  Posting this blog was a To Do item in my trusty planner, and yup, it's trusty alright.  Because here I am!  (That thing keeps me so focused... I already ordered next year's and now I'm wishing the rest of 2016 away.  But I digress...)

I played around with the Affectionately Yours suite for this week's entry.  I couldn't quite work in the embossing folder, but the stamp set and designer series paper are front and center, along with some thick bakers twine in Cucumber Crush (I am so going to miss that color when it's gone).

Products used:

• Cardstock in Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder (another favorite of mine) and Daffodil Delight
• Affectionately Yours designer series paper
• Thick bakers twine in Cucumber Crush
• Love & Affection stamp set
• Washi Label punch (retired, but I love it)
• Classic Stampin' Pads in Night of Navy, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder
• Versamark ink (for the subtle tone on tone stamping on Watermelon Wonder and Daffodil Delight)
• Stampin' Write marker in Daffodil Delight (to color in the center of the main stamped flower)

I'm not sure I really like the pop of Whisper White.  It seems very out of place with the color scheme.  However it does showcase the ink colors beautifully.

I'm not sure this design will make it into a future workshop, but for now it has a home on my giant memo board in my stamping room.

Enjoy, and happy stamping everyone!  Stay cool out there, where you are.

A Quick Look at my July Workshop

My neighborhood stamping group usually takes the summer off, but since I'm new at being the demonstrator and got a later start at hosting these workshops, I wanted to do something over the summer to keep me focused.  And I was dying to use all my toys from Stampin' Up!'s new annual catalog.

In the past, we have usually made 5 cards, but I stuck to three and called it a mini workshop.  We only had three participants, but they were three of the tried and true stampers.  A lot of fun was had, a lot of sangria was consumed, and a lot of orders were placed (an extra bonus for me!).

I am sure these cards were CASEd from Pinterest or the Pals (I am sorry for not being able to assign better credit... I am working on better organizing this aspect of my stamping business).

I used the following new bundles to create/reproduce these cards:

• Weather Together
• Swirly Bird
• Jar of Love

I love hosting these workshops and getting together with the ladies, but so far I have found that at least one of my demo cards has been swiped and replaced with someone's less than perfect card.  I've got to keep an eye on these ladies in the future!  Or pour less sangria!

PPA #309

This is what you call a five minute card.

It's been a crazy week.  My husband is in California on business, I've had all kinds of appointments and meetings, and the little guy... well, he's been great, but it's been hard to get to my workshop and play with my stuff.

I thought I was going to have to skip the PPA this week, but yesterday I had 15 minutes before I needed to pick up my son, and I needed to make a congratulations card for my very best friend who received an offer for a job for which she thought she was under-qualified.  (Does that sentence sound as stuffy to you as it feels to me?  I was trying desperately to not end my sentence with a preposition, and just like the card, this is a five minute blog post!)  I was so proud of her for simply taking a chance and throwing her hat in the ring.  And I am ecstatic that she got rewarded with a fantastic new opportunity.

And since I had 15 minutes, and I needed to make this card, why not use the PPA as inspiration and kill two birds with one stone?

The challenge was to use three of Stampin' Up!'s beautiful colors:  Island Indigo, Sahara Sand and Sweet Sugarplum.  I was thrilled to see the Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper coordinates with all three of these colors (which made this five minute card possible!).

Products used were:

• Sahara Sand, Island Indigo and Sweet Sugarplum cardstock
• Classic Stampin' Pad in Island Indigo
• Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper
• Layering Circles Dies
• Confetti Celebration stamp set

It was fast and easy, and right to the point.  Hooray!

PPA #308

My fourth PPA in a row!  I can't believe it!  I really love how this is forcing me to sit down with my stuff, and come up with a card idea somewhat on my own.  Generally, I'm copying and sharing a lot of what I see on Pinterest and my own ideas don't always pan out the way I see them in my imagination.  The PPA is giving me a jumping off point, and the rest is up to me.  It's building my creativity and my confidence in my crafting.

It might be stressing me out from time to time, but that's the good kind of stress!  The "me" building stress... not the job stress, family stress or friend stress.

Speaking of friend stress, I'm glad I got this card done yesterday because I have spent the better part of the day dealing with high school drama with one of my high school friends.  I graduated high school 26 years ago. Enough already!! :)

Back to business... Here's my card:

I used all Stampin' Up! products for this card.  They are the best, after all.

• Card stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Basic Black
• Stamp Set:  Endless Thanks for the sentiment and Helping Me Grow for the flower
• Large Dots textured impressions embossing folder
• For ink I used Memento Black and the blender pens with Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, and Wild Wasabi

I colored over the blender pen Daffodil Delight with the Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write marker because the color was not vibrant enough.  I definitely like it better this way.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!  And thanks for letting me play the PPA!