Supplies Spotlight: Ride With Me Bundle

The Ride With Me stamp set and dies bundle is another one of those versatile sets that are great for year round projects. Add balloons, pumpkins, or a Christmas tree to the back of the truck for birthdays or seasonal cards. You can make a darling little 3D truck for any occasion as well.

Watch the video to view some other great ideas for the bundle!

I love November!

 

I love the month of November!

The days are getting shorter, the Michigan air is a bit cooler, and my gardens are put to bed for the winter. It’s time for hot cider and pumpkin pie! The anticipation of the upcoming holidays brings a smile to my face.

And the thought of putting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on my table makes my mouth water!

 

 

November brings Thanksgiving and gratitude to the forefront of our thoughts. While we are blessed to enjoy the festive turkey feast, upon reflection there are so many things I am grateful for – way too numerous to mention here, but on that list, of course, is family and friends. My immediate family is very small (just my husband and daughter), but both have been very supportive of me in my Stampin’Up! adventure. I am excited and thankful that this year my daughter will be able to come home from the west coast and join us for Thanksgiving dinner!

My friends have also cheered me on through good and rough times. I am grateful I have made so many new friends over the past six years as a Stampin’Up! demonstrator. My fabulous upline, Julie Gilson of StampinGala, has been extremely supportive and encouraging to me, and I am happy to call her my friend. Fellow demostrators – those local to me and those I know only as Facebook friends – continue to be a constant source of encouragement and inspiration.

Several of my customers have been with me since the beginning of my Stampin’Up! adventure, while others I have only known for a short time. We come from different backgrounds and walks of life, but we have a common bond – that of papercrafting and enjoying each other’s company as we work on our cards or projects. For that I am grateful, and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

So why do I love November? What’s not to love?! Is there something or someone that Stampin’Up! has brought into your life that you are grateful for? Let me know in the Facebook group!

(And I think it’s time for some hot cider while I plan some more November projects!)

 

Supplies Spotlight: Brightly Gleaming Suite

 

Elegance made easy with the products in this suite. The gold foil-trimmed Designer Series Paper alone is stunning. Add it to the beautiful images from the stamp set and embellishments in this suite and you will have gorgeous projects!

 

Check out the other products in this suite below: 

Tutorial: Bridgefold Merry Moose

 

A bridgefold card is easy to make but produces very impressive results. It has a 3-D effect, making the moose on this card appear to be walking in front of the cabin.

 

Cut Cardstock:

 

Assembly:

Fold Card Base on score lines so that each side folds in on the scoreline closest to the center and out on the scoreline closest to the outside.

 

 

Using Early Espresso ink, stamp the greetings from the Merry Moose and To Every Season stamp sets onto the Let It Snow DSP inside layer, making sure the stamped imagers are near the top. Snail to the card base.

 

 

Snail the blue snowy DSP strips to the inside panels of the card base.

 

 

Using Early Espresso ink, stamp the cabin from the Rustic Retreat stamp set onto the piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. Color with the following Stampin’ Blends: Light Old Olive for the trees, Light and Dark Crumb Cake for the cabin, Light Daffodil Delight for the windows, and Light Smokey Slate for the stone fireplace.

Use your Paper Snips to fussy cut the cabin, then snail to the card base under the greetings near the center of the designer paper.

VERY CAREFULLY add a line of Snowfall Accents Puff Paint under the cabin and set with heat tool. The Puff Paint comes out of the bottle very quickly, so be careful that you don’t put too much on the paper! You may want to practice on a piece of scrap paper first.

 

 

Snail the blue snowy DSP bridge layer strip to the Shaded Spruce bridge strip. Snail the bridge strip to the card base as follows – snail the left end of the bridge strip to the left outer panel of the card base, flush with the bottom and outer side of the panel.

 

 

Fold the left panel flat, then snail the right end of the bridge strip to the right outer panel in the same manner as the left side.

 

 

Snail the green/blue plaid strips to the outer panels of the card base over the ends of the bridge strip.

 

 

Using Early Espresso ink, stamp the moose from the Merry Moose stamp set onto the piece of Crumb Cake cardstock. Punch out the moose using the coordinating punch. Use Multipurpose glue to attach the legs of the moose to the center of the bridge strip.

 

 

Use Shaded Spruce ink to stamp two large and two small pine trees from the Merry Moose stamp set onto the piece of Whisper White card stock.

Snail one large tree to the edge of the left outer panel so that it hangs over the inside a bit. Snail one of the small trees onto the bridge strip, slightly overlapping the larger tree. Use dimensionals to attach the other large tree overlapping the other trees. Snail the remaining small tree to the right outer panel.

Add a line of Snowfall Accents Puff Paint underneath the moose and set with heat tool.

 

 

Envelope:

Use Shaded Spruce ink to stamp one small pine tree from the Merry Moose stamp set onto the lower left corner of the envelope.

 

 

To fit the card into the envelope, fold one side in and the other side flat. This will make the size 5 1/2″ x 4″ and it will easily fit into the envelope.

 

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Two Overlooked Tools Every Stamper Should Have

 

Whether you’re a casual or avid stamper, there are essential tools that every stamper accumulates – a good craft scissors, ruler, various adhesives, paper trimmer, and a die cut/embossing machine, to name a few. We all also have a stash of favorite stamps, cardstock, inks, markers, embellishments,  etc.

One tool often overlooked is the “bone folder.” Inexpensive and not very showy, many stampers – especially casual stampers – just take a pass on it. However, it is an invaluable tool!

Did you know that when you use a bone folder to burnish your folds and scoreline creases, it doesn’t leave that ‘shiny’ or dented mark that happens when you use a ruler or your fingernail?

It’s also the best tool for curling cardstock for flower petals, leaves, banners etc. It works on the same principle of using a scissors to curl a length of curling ribbon. Use a scissors on cardstock to do that, and most likely you will rip the cardstock.

Another way I use my bone folder is to spread ink refill on my Stampin’ pads when I have to re-ink them. If you put a few drops of re-inker on your Stampin’ pad without distributing the ink to the entire pad, you will end up with lighter and darker areas of ink on your stamped image. Yes, it does stain your bone folder, but I think of it as being a well-loved tool! Here’s a photo of my often used and well-loved bone folder:

 

Another overlooked tool is the Simply Shammy. It’s used for cleaning the water based ink off of your stamps.

Some people use baby wipes, but you have to keep buying them, the ink will rub off on your hand, and they can leave lint on your stamp (which will leave your stamped image blotchy). Simply wipe your stamps with the Simply Shammy and you’re done – nothing to throw away, no running to the sink to rinse your stamps or your hands, and no lint on your stamps.

It does need to be damp when you use it, so keep it moist in a plastic ziplock bag or an empty plastic stamp case.  If it dries out, just soak it in water for a few minutes. You’ve heard “a ragged Teddy Bear has seen a lot of love” – a stained Shammy is the equivalent. It will get stained by the ink, but it doesn’t come off on your hands or the stamp.

Here’s what a new Simply Shammy looks like and what my well-loved Shammy looks like today:

 

Do you absolutely need these tools? No, but even if you are just a casual stamper, having them will make your crafting time a little easier and neater.

 

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Christmas Time Is Here!

Christmas Time is here! (At least in the papercrafting world, when we take into account the months spent making cards and gifts for friends and family.)
Take a look at all the lovely new products that will be available beginning Nov 1! Beautiful for Christmas or versatile enough to use all year. Purchase individually or as a suite.

Tutorial: Halloween Friends

 

Spiders and cats become friends on Halloween!

 

 

Cut Cardstock:
  •      Card Base: Gorgeous Grape – 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, score at 4 1/4″
  •      First Layer: Pumpkin Pie – 5 3/8″ x 4 1/8″, cut two
  •      Front Second Layer: Basic Black – 5 1/8″ x 4″
  •      Inside Second Layer: Whisper White -5 1/8″ x 4″
  •      Ornate Frames: Crushed Curry -7 12/” x 2 1/2″
  •      Stamped Images: Whisper White – 6′ x 2″
  •      Spiders: Silver Foil Scraps
  •      Inside ‘Wicked’: Red Glimmer Paper – 4 3/4″ x 1 3/4″

 

Assembly:

Snail one piece of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock to the card base.

Using the Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder, emboss the Basic Black cardstock and snail to the card front.

Using Crushed Curry cardstock, crop three ornate frames from the Ornate Frames Die set.

Use Memento Ink to stamp the cat, spider and ‘Happy Halloween’ from the ‘Wonderfully Wicked’ bundle onto the 6″ x 2″ piece of Whisper White cardstock. Crop with the frames from the Ornate Frames Die set. Use dimensionals to attach to the Crushed Curry ornate frames, then use dimensionals to attach to the card front. Refer to photo for placement.

Use the spider die from the ‘Wonderfully Wicked’ bundle to crop three spiders from the Silver Foil scraps. Use a snippet of a dimensional to attach each spider to the card front. Refer to photo for placement. Place a small red rhinestone on the center of each spider.

 

Inside:

Snail the remaining piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock to the inside of the card.

Use the ‘Wicked’ die from the ‘Wonderfully Wicked’ bundle to crop the Red Glimmer Paper.Use multipurpose liquid glue to attach it to the middle of the 5 1/8″ x 4″ piece of Whisper White cardstock. (NOTE – I still had some retired Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper which I used for this.) 

Use Memento Ink to stamp two spider webs and one spider to the edges of the Whisper White cardstock. Use Memento Ink to stamp the words “Have a” and “Good time!” above and below the “Wicked” die cut. Refer to photo for placement.

 

Envelope:

Use Memento Ink to stamp a spider to the lower left corner of the envelope.

 

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Tutorial: Spooktacular Bash Double Z-Fold Card

This fun-fold card allows you to use just about all of the cute stamps in the Spooktacular Bash Bundle!

 

Cut Cardstock:
  •      Card Base: Basic Black – 11″ x 4 1/4″, score at 5 1/2″ and 2 3/4″
  •      First Layer: Gorgeous Grunge – 5 1/4″ x 4″,  4″ x 2 1/2″ –cut two
  •      Second Layer: Crushed Curry – 5″ x 3 3/4″, 3 3/4″ x 2 1/4″ –cut two
  •      Ornate Frames: Basic Black – 7 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
  •      Stamped Images: Very Vanilla – several small scraps
  •      Connecting Band: Gorgeous Grape – 11″ x 1″, score at 5 1/2″ and 8 1/4″
  •      Embossed Band: Pumpkin Pie – 11″ x 7/8″, score at 5 1/2″ and 8 1/4″

 

Assembly:

Fold the card base on the score lines to make a Z-fold. Snail the Gorgeous Grape cardstock to the matching sections of the card base.

 

 

Using Memento Ink, stamp two spider webs from the Wonderfully Wicked stamp set onto both of the smaller pieces of Crushed Curry cardstock, then snail to the matching sections of the card base.

Use Memento Ink to stamp three spider webs and two spiders from the Wonderfully Wicked stamp set onto the larger piece of Crushed Curry cardstock, then snail to the matching section on the card base. Refer to photo for placement of images.

 

 

Using Basic Black cardstock, crop three of the smaller ornate frames from the Ornate Frames die set.

Use Memento Ink to stamp the vampire, mummy, jars, and greetings from the Spooktacular Bash stamp set onto scraps of Very Vanilla cardstock. Crop with frames from the Ornate Frames die set. Refer to photo to see which greeting and frames were used for this card.

Use the Light Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends marker to color the framed area around the vampire and mummy images. Use the Light Real Red Stampin’ Blends marker to color the small area on the vampire’s shirt. Use the Light Old Olive, Light Smokey Slate and Light Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends markers to color the frog, spider and bones inside the jars stamped image.

 

 

Use the stylish Hammered Metal Embossing Folder to emboss the Pumpkin Pie band. You will have to emboss half of the strip, then turn the strip to emboss the other half. Snail this band onto the Gorgeous Grape band, matching the score lines.

 

 

Snail the connecting band to the card front as follows–open the card base so that it is flat. Snail the 2 3/4″ fold to the right bottom of the card base. Next, snail the 5 1/2″ fold of the band to the left side of the card base, being careful to only put snail adhesive on half of that portion of the band. Refer to photo for placement.

 

Snail the mummy, vampire and ‘Eat, Drink, and Be Scary’ greeting onto the black ornate frames, then use dimensionals to attach to the card base. Refer to photo for placement.

Use dimensionals to attach the ‘Have A Spooktacular Halloween’ greeting to the card base. Refer to the photo for placement.

 

Use snail to attach the ‘Creepy’, Jars, and ‘Spooky’ greeting to the connecting band. Refer to photo for placement.

Place small red rhinestones onto the jars image and ‘Have A Spooktacular Halloween’ image. Place small black dot embellishments on the ‘Creepy’ and ‘Spooky’ greetings.

 

Envelope:

Use Memento Ink to stamp a spider from the Wonderfully Wicked stamp set onto the lower left corner of the envelope.

 

For more ideas using the Spooktacular Bash stamp set, check out the ‘Ghoul Friends’ card!

 

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Tutorial: Halloween Raven

 

The crackle paint background enhanced with sponging really make the raven stand out on this card.

 

 

Cut Cardstock: 
  • Card Base: Basic Black – 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, score at 4 1/4″
  • First Layer: Gorgeous Grape – 5 3/8″ x 4 1/8″, cut two
  • Second Layer: Pumpkin Pie – 5 1/4″ x 4″, cut two
  • Stamped Layer: Very Vanilla – 5 1/8″ x 3 7/8″, cut two
  • “Beware” Greeting: Very Vanilla – 2 1/4″ x 1 1/4″

 

Assembly:

Note – make sure you sponge and stamp the card front before snailing the layers to the card base.

Begin by sponging one of the 5 1/8″ x 3 7/8″ pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock. I cut the sponge into 3-4 pieces to use with different colors. Starting with Daffodil Delight ink, sponge a large oval area in the center of the cardstock. With a clean sponge, apply Crushed Curry ink onto the center of the Daffodil Delight oval. Repeat with a clean sponge using Pumpkin Pie ink. The completed oval should have shading of orange in the center to yellow on the outside edge.

 

Using a clean sponge, apply Night of Navy ink on the cardstock around the yellow/orange sponged oval.

Using Memento ink, stamp the Crackle Paint background stamp over the sponged cardstock. Use heat tool to make sure the ink is completely dry before the next step.

Using Versamark ink, stamp the raven from The Raven stamp set over the sponged oval. Sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool.

Use Versamark ink to stamp the branch from The Raven stamp set underneath the raven, sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool. Stamp  a second branch in the same manner coming from the left side of the cardstock. Refer to photo for placement.

Snail the completed piece to one of the pieces of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, then snail to one of the pieces of Gorgeous Grape cardstock.

Tie a piece of Glittered Organdy Ribbon around the top of the card front and form a small bow. Snail the card front to the card base.

Using Versamark ink, stamp the ‘Beware’ greeting from The Raven stamp set on the small piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool.

Crop with the smallest oval from the Stitched Shapes framelits, then use dimensionals to attach to the card front. Refer to photo for placement.

 

Inside:

Snail the layers of Gorgeous Grape and Pumpkin Pie cardstock to the inside of the card.

On the remaining piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, sponge a circle in the center of the cardstock using Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie inks. Use the heat tool to make sure the ink is completely dry.

Using Versamark ink, stamp the sentiment from The Raven stamp set over the center of the sponged circle, sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool.

Use Versamark ink to stamp the feather image from The Raven stamp set twice on the left side of the cardstock. Sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool. Snail the completed piece to the inside of the card.

 

Envelope:

Use Versamark ink to stamp the feather image to the lower left corner of the envelope, sprinkle with Black Emboss powder and set with heat tool.

 

Here is the same card with a slight twist. The card base is Very Vanilla and the layers are Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie. The Night of Navy sponging and the ‘Beware’ greeting are omitted from the card front. Which version do you like better?

 

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