Stampin' Up!

Stamping 411 – Happy Moments

January 15, 2010 By Connie | 5 Comments

As you can see, I've done some MAJOR rennovations on my Blog! Thanks to Michelle Laycock for the awesome new Blog Layout! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Time for this week's Stamping 411 sketch challenge! On my card, I used two of the new Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration sets, Happy Moments and Vintage Labels. I really like BOTH of these…well, truly, I like ALL the Sale-A-Bration selections this year!

For my card, I started with a base of Almost Amethyst and layered on the floral paper from Tea Party. Then I cut a diagonal piece of the stripe pattern and placed that over the floral (that way I didn't have to worry about seams matching up!)

I stamped the birdcage in Basic Brown on Whisper White and layered it on Almost Amethyst. I added a couple of the Little Leave Sizzlets diecuts in Certainly Celery. The top of the birdcage has a gold mini brad.

I stamped the Vintage Label in Basic Brown and Happy Birthday in Certainly Celery, then punched it with the Curly Label punch. It was placed over the 5/8 Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon…yummy!

This card came together pretty easy with the sketch. I hope you check out the rest of the Operators on Stamping 411 this week and make up a card and play along!

Sweet Pea Designer Paper

January 13, 2010 By Connie | 8 Comments

I absolutely LOVE the patterns in this new Sweet Pea Designer Paper Stack. Lots of larger patterns for Home Decor or Scrapbooking…but lots of small prints for cardmaking. The best of both worlds!

I made this magnetic board for my roommate, Coleen, at Leadership. I was thrilled with how it turned out! Pretty quick and easy, too. I started with the pattern of the large bird and flowers and cut it to size on the metal sign. I added Sweat Pea Stitched Felt Flowers, circles and leaves to the printed flowers for some added texture and dimension. In the center of the large flower, I used a Blue Rhinestone Brad. I used the new Bird Punch to add a So Saffron wing to the bird, popped up on Stampin' dimensionals.

I cut the letters for Coleen out of Chocolate Chip cardstock and ran thru the Big Shot with the Simple Letters Alphabet Bigz Dies and adhered them. I added magnets to the backs of Designer Buttons. The back had a place to hang the sign, so I used the slots to add the 1 1/4 Chocolate Chip Striped Ribbon for hanging. It turned out so CUTE! Now I need one for my Stamping Studio!

That Sweet Pea Designer Paper Stack has all kinds of fun prints and the Sweet Pea Felt Flowers are AWESOME embellishments!

(The Port Authority bag checkers also wanted a close up look at my project, too. My bag was inspected going to Leadership and Coleen's was inspected going home! lol!)

It's not too late to join Create with Connie and Julie Occasions Edition! We are working on lots of exciting projects for this round and have added 3 guest designers! Come join the fun! See a sneak peek over at Create with Connie and Julie!

Vintage Vogue

January 12, 2010 By Connie | Leave a Comment

Trying to get back to a normal routine. I spent all day yesterday on the computer doing paperwork or unpacking from Leadership! I'm SO glad that I brought an extra suitcase…both of them were FILLED coming back!

This is my second swap card I did for the Leadership SUDSOL private swap using Stampin' Up!'s Vintage Vogue stamp set.

I started with a base of Cameo Coral and added Soft Suede on top. I wheeled Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel over Whisper White with Soft Suede for on top. I hid the seam with a 1/2" strip of Brushed Gold cardstock. I stamped Life Happens, Love Helps from the Vintage Vogue set onto Brushed Cardstock with Soft Suede Classic ink (hard to see from the shine on my picture, sorry!) and punched it with the Modern Label Punch. Along the side of the Brushed Gold strip on the Soft Suede cardstock, I stamped the border image from Very Vintage in Soft Suede, too. Finally, I stamped the flower in Cameo Coral on Whisper White and cut it out. Added a 1/2" punched circle of Soft Suede with a Gold Mini Brad in the center.

I think it is pretty, soft and yet elegant!

I need to get ready for tonight's Technique Class. My room looks like it exploded! Have a wonderful day!

I {Heart} Hearts

January 11, 2010 By Connie | 3 Comments

I'm back! Oh…so much fun at Leadership in Phoenix this year! I filled a notebook with my notes! I also enjoyed seeing MANY of the friends I've made over the years and getting those big hugs. Thank you to those that stopped by and said hi because you recognized my face from my Blog, too! It is always so sad to go home…the time RACES by while we are there!

Did you enjoy all the Preview samples from Create with Connie and Julie last week? It's not too late to join! We have 8 weeks to go, but you still have access to all the posts once the subscription ends.

This was one of the swap cards I made for Leadership. I only made about 20 of them, just ran out of time! I was actually gluing them together on the flight to Phoenix. The base is Lavender Lace cardstock and I layered on Melon Mambo cardstock. I ran the I {Love} Love Wheel across the front of the So Saffron cardstock with Apricot Appeal ink, then punched along the bottom with the new Scallop Trim Border (you can get FREE from Sale-A-Bration!) I stamped Love You Much from Well Scripted in Melon Mambo on Whisper White, then wrapped some Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon across the bottom. I used the Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die for the Lavender Lace Scalloped Heart. Stamped the flourish heart in Melon Mambo on Whisper White and cut out. Then used the Heart to Heart punch and the checked trio heart stamp from I {Heart} Hearts in So Saffron on So Saffron and punched out.

I love the colors in this…what do you think?

It's Sale A Bration time! Free stamp set with every $50 purchase!

CCJC1 – Valentine Cards

January 9, 2010 By Connie | 3 Comments

Every Saturday on the Create with Connie & Julie site we issue a challenge. Our subscribers are encouraged to enter the challenge to win fabulous prizes! This weeks challenge was to create a Valentine's Day Card.

The new Occasions Mini Catalog has a fabulous new Valentines set, I (Heart) Hearts. I used this new stamp set along with the new Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die to create my card! The colors remind me of the Conversation Heart candy available in the stores now!

I started with a base of Melon Mambo Cardstock. The next layer is Regal Rose, that I stamped with the I (Love) Love Jumbo Wheel all over the background. I cut out 4 Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit diecuts in So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink and Lavender Lace. On top, I cut the Timeless Type Bigz Alphabet die letters in LOVE out of Whisper White cardstock. Those are placed on a couple strips of Whisper White in the background. I wrapped Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon around the card and added the Stylized Silver Designer Label hardware. Inside I stamped Love You Much from Well Scripted stamp set in Melon Mambo on Whisper White and punched it out with the Designer Label punch to fit inside the hardware.

I added a Pretty in Pink Corduroy Button in the hardware hole on the right side, then added a couple hearts stamped with I (Heart) Hearts and punched with the Heart to Heart punch! I think it is a FUN card!

Supplies:

Sets: I (Heart) Hearts (117010), Well Scripted (117072)

Inks: Melon Mambo (115656), Regal Rose Jumbo Ink Cartridge (103678 Uninked)

Cardstock: Whisper White (100730), Regal Rose (105130), Melon Mambo (115320), So Saffron (105118), Pixie Pink ((105121), Lavender Lace (101614)

Accessories: I (Love) Love Jumbo Wheel (117084), Pretty in Pink Corduroy Button (117681), Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon (109067), Stylized Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (111325), Designer Label Punch (107590), Heart to Heart Punch (113694)

See what our Design Team members created for this week's challenge.

If you haven't checked out the Create with Connie and Julie site yet now is the time to do it! This is the end of Preview Week, tomorrow only paid subscribers will have access to the site.

We feature new Occasions Mini product every week. There is a new project posted every day and there will be a minimum of two fabulous tutorials each and every week. We like to have lots of fun so we have challenges and prizes for our subscribers. Our sites stay up long after the session is done so you will always have access to the site and the tutorials. For more information and to see our Preview Week projects please visit out Create with Connie and Julie site!

Stamping 411 – Love Bandit

January 8, 2010 By Connie | 5 Comments

This is going to be REAL quick because I need to leave for the airport to go to Leadership in about 45 minutes (although I'm pre-setting this to post on Friday while I'm gone.) Luckily, Selene did a pretty easy sketch this week, so I was able to make it up pretty quickly. The most trouble I had was adding a greeting on here! I love the words (You Stole My Heart) with the little raccoon, although I did get my word separate from the image of the raccoon.

I started with a base of So Saffron cardstock, then added the Designer Paper from Tall tales as a strip across the bottom half. I cut a rectangle of another print in Tall Tales, then added the Brilliant Blue Scallop Trim Border (that punch is a Sale-A-Bration selection item…don't worry, it will also be in the new catalog when it comes out!) Then I layered it on Old Olive cardstock. I thought it needed something across the tree pattern, so I added a strip of Rose Red 1/4 Grosgrain Ribbon. Finally, I stamped the Raccoon in Basic Black, colored the heart with Rose Red Stampin' Write Marker, then punched with the 1 1/4 circle punch. It is layered on So Saffron 1 3/8 circle, then the Brilliant Blue Scallop Circle that I also pierced with the piercing tool in each scallop. Finally added "You Stole My Heart" along the bottom.

Too cute! Enjoy the weekend!

Day 6 Create with Connie and Julie Sneak Peek

January 8, 2010 By Connie | Leave a Comment

You are seriously not going to believe the amazing project that Mary Brown came up with for today! I am sure that you are going to find it as amazing as I did! You can check out all the details, including a full tutorial over on the Create with Connie and Julie Site.

This is our Preview Week on the site! From January 3rd- January 9th the site will be open for everyone to view. For this week only, you will get to see the sort of projects and challenges that we will feature on the site.

On Sunday January 10th you will only be able to view the new daily posts if you are a subscriber.

The Occasions Edition site will run from January 3 – March 6. Each week we will focus on a different collection of products that can be found in the Occasions Mini Catalog or Sale-A-Bration brochure. Our goal is to show you some new and unique ways to use Stampin' Up!'s fabulous products. Every day there will be a new project posted and each week there will be at least two tutorials available for you to download. Our exclusive projects will include cards, scrapbook pages and 3D items, the quick and easy ones and the more complex larger projects.

And this session we are proud to announce the addition of three Guest Designers! Mary Brown joins us as Senior Guest Designer, along with Kerin Sylvester and Monika Davis as Guest Designers! They will be sharing in the Challenges and creating some special projects for you, too!

To find out more about the site and to order a subscription, please visit us at Create with Connie & Julie.