Tea Bag Card

Looking for a cute way to give a little something to a friend or co-worker?  

Here's a cute teabag card. 

It's decorated on the front with images from a stamp set called Tea Party. 

Available in either wood mount or clear mount.

The Rose Red and Garden Green color combination is so pretty.

Its finished off with a couple of self-stick Rhinestones in the corner
and a cute "belly band" made of Pistachio Pudding 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim as a closure.

The Tea Party stamp set has some great images. 

You can use it to make invitations or thank-yous

as well as some really cute hello cards.

TIP: You may be wondering how I got these different colors, since the image is a single stamp. The answer is to color the stamp itself with markers and then stamp to the paper.  This is a large image so remember to "HUFF" - exhale on the stamp to re-moisten the ink - just before stamping.

 

To make this card I cut a 4" strip from a piece of 12x12 cardstock.

Score at 4" from each end.

On the last section cut off a triangle from one corner up to the opposite corner by the score line.

For stability I added a green 4"x4" sheet into the pocket with the teabag.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired

 

QUICK LINKS:

• Reduced prices on Retired product  . . .  Check the Clearance Rack HERE
• Special Savings: Deal of the Week  . . . Click here to see The Deal of the Week 
  - New items post each Tuesday
• Sale-a-bration 2014: Jan28-Mar 31 . . . Read the Details HERE
  Download your Wish List and Start Sale-a-brating!
• View our Catalogs On-Line
  -The Annual Catalog (expires May 31) . . . also in Spanish
  -The Occasions Catalog (January - May)
  -The Sale-a-Bration Brochure (Jan 28-Mar 31)

Remembering Your Birthday with the Banner Blast Bundle

Have you seen the Bundles in the 2014 Sale-a-bration brochure?  The Sale-a-bration brochure is full of samples, just like always. But now they are grouped by sets of product all used to make sets of samples. 

Yay! Bundles make it so easy 

to "sale-a-brate" this spring. 

This bundle includes 

• Markers: the 2013-2015 InColors
• Paper: a package of White Cardstock
• A stamp set: Remembering Your Birthday
• Envelopes
• Self Stick Rhinestones
• Some White Baker's Twine 
• and a FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set: Banner Blast. 

(Sale-a-bration is a great time to stock up on consummables like white paper and envelopes)

At our last demonstrator meeting we played around with making the cards in the brochure. These projects are super easy.

• The wavy lines for the background on the first card were made by dragging the tip of the marker across the page. (don't look too close, I should have started my marker off the paper, but you get the idea)
  
  And look how easy it is to make a matching envelope
  
• The birthday sentiment on the 2nd card is from the Stamp set: Remembering Your Birthday - and the cute banner stamps are from a Sale-a-bration set called Banner Blast.
   
• The sample in the brochure was done in pinks but we made our card in blues and browns.
  
  Cool. This could be a masculine or feminine card, either way, depending on the colors you choose.
  

Do you just love those sweet little banners!

That's the FREE stamp set: Banner Blast.

 

What's your choice? Wood Mount or Clear Mount? The Birthday Bash Bundle is available in either one.

wood mount #135316 for $61.80

or clear mount #135317 for $55.80

The suggested stamp set is called Remembering Your Birthday. Just look at the cute sentiments in this set. 

You may be wondering if you HAVE to get this group of product in order to get the Banner Blast Stamp set for Free. - Absolutely not. Any $50 purchase gets you a FREE Sale-a-bration item. 

Do you have a Wish List?  Sale-a-bration is a great time to start filling it because you can get lots of FREE stuff.  EACH $50 purchase gets you a Free item from the Sale-a-bration Brochure. This year your choices include 3 stamp sets, an embossing folder, some drop dead gorgeous Designer Paper and more. Check out the Brochure and start filling in your Wish List now.

Oops! Almost forgot to mention, if your order is over $150 not only will you get 3 Free items, you'll also earn Hostess Benefits. Its all built into the on-line ordering system. You just make your choices and it won't let you finalize the order until you've chosen your FREE Sale-a-bration items and your Hostess Benefits.

 Contact me if you have any problems placing your order, I'm here to help.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired
 

QUICK LINKS:

• Reduced prices on Retired product  . . .  Check the Clearance Rack HERE
• Special Savings: Deal of the Week  . . . Click here to see The Deal of the Week 
  - New items post each Tuesday
• Sale-a-bration 2014: Jan28-Mar 31 . . . Read the Details HERE
  Download your Wish List and Start Sale-a-brating!
• View our Catalogs On-Line
  -The Annual Catalog (expires May 31) . . . also in Spanish
  -The Occasions Catalog (January - May)
  -The Sale-a-Bration Brochure (Jan 28-Mar 31)

Punch Art Vase with the Ornament Punch

The holidays may be over but don't put away the Ornament Punch.

Create this punch art vase with the ornament punch. Just see what a pretty vase it makes when you snip off the bottom. Then jazz it up a bit by stamping on some foliage.

The foliage and sentiment on this card are from a set called Thoughts and Prayers.  This stamp set has some really lovely "sympathy" and "get well" sentiments. 

The foliage on the vase is from the side of the tree. I love the contrast in colors between the black ink and the Rose Red vase.

Are you wondering how I got 2 colors on the stamp for the flowers and stem? I used markers - I just colored right on the rubber with the markers and then stamped.

This color combination has such a warm rich look: Crushed Curry and Old Olive.

You can get the supplies to make this card at my on-line store.  

While you're there be sure to check the Weekly Deals and the Clearance Rack. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired
 

If you love Punch Art 

and if you're local to the Dane County Area 

then sign up for this Sunday's Heart Punch Art Class. 

 Read more about it and register here.

Easter Blessings Card with Embossed Tulip Frame

Here is an Easter Card made by a friend. Seasonally it may be a little early for Easter Cards - but I just got this as a trade and its so pretty that I just had to share. 

The stamp is called "Blessed Easter" - its one of the new stamps in the Occasions Catalog.  

Notice the colors? I was confused at first when I saw the colors on the card - because I knew this was a single stamp. The petals, stem and words are all on one stamp and yet the image is in 2 colors.  

TIP: You can get this 2-color look on a single stamp by coloring directly on the stamp with markers.  Looks great doesn't it. The colors on this card are such a pretty spring combination: Wisteria Wonder and Garden Green.

The Framed Tulips embossing folder adds just the right special touch for the edge and the Crochet Trim bow is the perfect finishing touch.

If you haven't seen the new Occasions Catalog yet you can view it on-line HERE. Or contact me to get a paper copy.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired
 

• Reduced prices on Retired product
  - Check the Clearance Rack HERE
• Special Savings: Deal of the Week
  -Click here to see The Deal of the Week 
  - New items post each Tuesday
• View our Catalogs On-Line
  -The Annual Catalog (expires May 31) . . . also in Spanish
  -The Occasions Catalog (January - May)
  -The Sale-a-Bration Brochure (Jan 28-Mar 31)

Springtime Hello Embellished with a Sweet Bee and Honeycomb Texture

Texture embossing really dresses up a card. The card on the left is pretty all by itself. But just see how special it looks with cardstock embossed with a Honeycomb pattern.

 

These images are from a new stamp set: Springtime Hello. This is just a sneak peek (sorry, I know a few people who want everything with bees, but this is not available until January). But you should have already gotten your Occasions Catalog in the mail, so enjoy a few days of browsing and get your Wish List ready.  This catalog goes live in January.

And if you don't have the Occasions Catalog yet then contact me for a copy

Another thing that makes this card special is the delicate coloring on the flower. The flower and its stems are all one stamp, yet you see multiple colors.

TIP: To get the different colors I used markers directly on the stamp. If you look carefully at the close up you'll see where my coloring was a little off. Using markers on the stamp is an easy way to get a "wow"  look.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired
 

Shop now to get Holiday Product before the catalog expires. Get  all your stamping supplies here.

While you're shopping, don't miss these deals:

• Special Savings:  The Deal of the Week 
  See all 8 items on sale this week - New each Tuesday
• Huge Clearance Rack Blitz - Check the Clearance Rack
  Some items are up to 80% off

Shopping on-line in December? use this Hostess Code 

and receive a Thank-you card in the mail from me **

along with a free sheet of Dimensionals (100 Dimensionals on a sheet)

KHGRCTMW

 **Be sure you leave the box checked that allows demonstrator contact. 

If you un-check it then I will not see a name or address 

and will not be able to send your thank-you and Free Dimensionals.

Springtime Hello new in the 2014 Occasions Catalog

Here's a sweet Springtime Hello. A super simple card made with one of the new stamp sets from the upcoming Occasions Catalog. The new set is called Springtime Hello. 

The Occasion Catalog goes live in January

Do you have the new Occasions Catalog? If you've ordered from me in the past you've probably already received your Occasions catalog in the mail. If not, contact me and I'll make sure you get one of these new catalogs.

This new set also has a sentiment. Here's a few ideas for adding a sentiment but still keeping the card design very simple.

 

Are you familiar with Stampin'UP!'s Catalog cycles? 

• The Annual Catalog expires the end of May, the new Annual Catalog goes live in June
• The Holiday Catalog runs from August-December
  only a few days left to shop from the 2013 Holiday Catalog
• The Occasions Catalog runs from January-May
• and be watching for links to this year's Sale-a-Bration brochure
  Sale-a-bration 2014 starts January 28th

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've been inspired

 

Shop now to get Holiday Product before the catalog expires. Get  all your stamping supplies here.

While you're shopping, don't miss these deals:

• Special Savings:  The Deal of the Week 
  See all 8 items on sale this week - New each Tuesday
• Huge Clearance Rack Blitz - Check the Clearance Rack
  Some items are up to 80% off

Shopping on-line in December? use this Hostess Code 

and receive a Thank-you card in the mail from me **

along with a free sheet of Dimensionals (100 Dimensionals on a sheet)

KHGRCTMW

 **Be sure you leave the box checked that allows demonstrator contact. 

If you un-check it then I will not see a name or address 

and will not be able to send your thank-you and Free Dimensionals.

Serene Sympathy

Today I'm attending the funeral for the husband of a friend. Karen is one of the women in my demonstrator group and we've all been so saddened to watch as her family dealt with this very aggressive cancer.

The imagery on this card really touched my heart - it seemed so perfect for a sympathy card.  The silhouettes as a final image and the idea of the sun setting.  This image is from Stampin'UP!'s stamp set: Serene Silhouettes.

The words are from a set called Word Play. I liked what the words said, but . . . The image actually ended with a little heart. The heart seemed a little too playful for this occasion so I really didn't want the heart on the card.  To solve that problem I inked the words with a marker and just did not ink the heart.  

Check the image to the right - see how  I markered everything except the heart.

This is actually one of the cards we did this month at the September Stamp-a-Stacks.  We were focusing on the technique of Moonlighting.  OK, a misnomer here because this is a sun, not a moon.  But the idea is to create a sun or moon without using a sun or moon stamp.  In this case the sun was sponged on. The yellow first and then a little orange.

If you've been watching this blog recently then you've seen all three ways we made suns or moons:
1.  a Punch Art Sun
2. A Masked Moon, sponging around mask
3. Negative Masking: sponging inside the circle as on this card.

Here's one more idea: The card I made was a vertical card, but it could easily be turned into a horizontal card.

 - be sure to stop back often for
    more ideas and samples.

-  Sign-UP for my newsletter to receive
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And if you don't already have
a Stampin'UP! demonstrator
      I'd love to be yours. 

• You can get all your Stampin'UP! supplies HERE on my Stampin'UP! website. 
  Shop from your computer and have it delivered to your door.  
• Need a catalog?  You can view the catalog online or call me (608-220-3450) to get a paper catalog. 

Thanks for stopping by
Happy Stamping
--Katie

Remember When We Actually Had Snow?

This has been the weirdest winter! Really, who can remember when its been January in Wisconsin with NO SNOW! I've been designing all my January event cards in the (apparently mistaken) belief that this was winter. I remember when we had 3 feet of snow on the ground and the snow plows had piled it up even higher along the roads.

The good thing is that the roads are safer.

The bad thing is that we can't enjoy our winter sports.

The images on this card are from a set called Jolly Bingo Bits. All the tiny images in this set are intended to fit into the grid of our Bingo Card Stamp. Click the image to the left to see this set larger

Do you sometimes accidentally get a line on your project from the edge of your stamp?  This happens when you get ink on the edge of the stamp and then it transfers to your project. Its a bigger problem with smaller stamps. It happens because we rock the stamp and the larger stamps are more stable.

Here's how to avoid the problem - ink the stamp with a marker! Then you can control where the ink goes and ensure there is none on the edge. And the bonus here is that by using markers I could color the snowman's scarf a different color. Pretty tricky!

Do you like the Postage Stamp look of this card?  It was really easy to do with the 1" square punch and our Postage Stamp punch. 

supplies used on this project:
Stamp Set: Word Play, wood mount #120308, clear mount #120651
Stamp Set: Jolly Jingle Bits, wood mount #120857, clear mount #121187
Punch: 1" square, #124094
Punch: Postage Stamp, #122344
Colors: Pacific Point, Real Red, Lucky Limeade

You can get these supplies and  all your stamping needs in my on-line store.

Happy Stamping
--Katie
I'm here to help make your stamping more fun and more productive.

Stamp Versatility

This post is about the stamp set called Awash with Flowers and the versatility of this set.

First this set was made for 2-step stamping - you'll notice that each leaf shape and flower shape has 2 stamps. One is an outline and the other is a bold solid stamp.  You stamp the outline and then over-stamp with the solid stamp.

You have several different flower shapes to choose from. The fact that the flower heads are not attached to the stems adds to the versatility of this set. Check out these 2 images. We made the card on the left at the Stamp-a-Stack this weekend. One of the stampers accidently stamped her flower "upside down" and got the card in the middle (thanks Barb).  Then I started playing with it a little more and stamped the flower twice to get the card on the right.

       

So what do you think?  Petals down?  Petals up?  Or stamp the petals twice for a full flower effect?  Leave a comment below with your choice.

I like the subtle neutral color combination on this card. These are made using River Rock as the card face, framed in Basic Black and mounted on a Whisper White card stock.

The petals are stamped in Stampin'UP!'s Whisper White, which is a Craft ink so it takes a little longer to dry. Now, speaking of inking the petals - if you look up at the image for the stamp set you'll see that the petals AND the center of the flower are all one stamp, yet this card has them in 1 colors, white for the petals and black for the flower  center.  The trick is to ink the whole stamp in white, then use a Q-tip or Kleenex to remove the ink from the flower center and re-ink it with a black marker.

This card was finished off with 3 black brads and a sentiment from a stamp set called Short and Sweet.

Our yard is starting to really look like a garden. Perhaps I was inspired by some daisies I planted last week. I am out there every day working on things because my youngest decided to have her Sept wedding here in our yard!  Despite the constant need for tending its actually a lot of fun. There are many similarities between gardening and stamping - creative placement of elements, playing with color and texture.  Love it.

Hope you are also finding time for creative fun.

Contact me with any stamping questions

--Katie

Elegant Thank-You

Here is a super quick and super easy card. The color scheme is simple, black, white and one other color.  You can use up a scrap of any printed paper you had on hand.  Darker colors and geometrics makes it suitable as a masculine card.  I used a strip of black ribbon along the top edge of the Designer Paper but a strip of black paper would work as well - or just leave the edge showing.  I used a black circle (1 3/4" punch) behind the square scallop punched sentiment,  partly to highlight the sentiment and partly because the white paper is thinner and the black makes it look more sturdy. This card is so fast and so easy.  If you embossed the sentiment in gold or silver that really would make it elegant!

This card lay-out would work with any small image.  What little stamps do you have that would look nice in this lay-out? The stamp I used is called Elegant Thank-You and its one of those little "a la CARTE" stamps.  About 2 catalogs ago Stampin'Up! began offering single stamps at a price of under $10.  When they started they had just 1 page.  This catalog has 2 and a half pages of these cute little stamps - you can find them on pages 18-20 of the 2010 catalog.  I love this stamp and I use it all the time.  Here are a couple of other ideas for this stamp.

Technique Tip: Using Markers on the Stamp Itself! For both of these samples I used markers directly on the stamp.  On the left I colored each letter a different color. You could use this technique if you just wanted the words and not the swirly decoration on top and bottom.

On the right I used markers directly on the stamp again, but this time I just colored the swirly part.  I stamped it twice to get this cool little square image. I'd love to tell you my hand/eye coordination was good enough to get it lined up so perfectly, but I'm not that good.  I used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig, which is an alignment tool.  This, by the way, is on my list of essential tools, I couldn't stamp without it. 

---

Let me know if there is any way I can help you with your stamping.

Please contact me with any suggestions or questions. Your feedback is appreciated.

Be sure to check my class calendar for future events.

Happy Stamping --Katie