CAS Take Flight

Happy Saturday!

Today's post is one geared toward Clean and Simple (CAS). I made a set of these on Stampin' Up! notecards with envelopes, and it has no additional layers of cardstock. I added a sponged background in So Saffron ink to give the card a pretty contrasting color with an illusion of a layer. This was done by cutting out a rectangle in scrap paper and sponging the opening that was made - easy and simple! The butterfly and sentiment were stamped with the assistance of my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig along the side and bottom. The flower centers one this card have little rhinestones added for flair. The envelopes were stamped in the lower left corner with the small butterfly from this stamp set to really coordinate the whole project.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend... see you next time!

Stamps - Flight of the Butterfly

Paper - Whisper White notecards with envelopes, scrap paper

Ink - melon mambo, so saffron, pixie pink

Accessories - craft knife, ruler, rhinestones, SAMJ, sponge

Technique Tuesday class projects

Hello again...

I wanted to post the cards that we made at our Technique Tuesday class this week. It was alot of fun to get together with this special group! If you are in the Phoenix metro area, you are invited to attend. It is held on the last Tuesday of every month in my home, and we go over 3 techniques at each class. More specific details can be found HERE.

Technique - Markers over Vellum

Stamps - Petal Pizzazz

Paper - Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Vellum, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP collection

Inks - Craft White, Melon Mambo marker

Accessories - White embossing powder, heatgun, Melon Mambo ribbon, brads, paper piercer & mat

Technique - Faux Pinwheel

Stamps - Sincere Salutations

Paper - So Saffron, Old Olive, Whisper White, Tall Tales DSP collection

Inks - Old Olive

Accessories - 1 3/8 inch square punch, Button Latte flower button, linen embroidery thread, glue dot

View of completed card ^

View with card insert removed ^

Technique - Criss Cross Card (an awesome Fun Fold technique!)

Stamps - Season of Joy

Paper - Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures DSP & Ski Slope DSP collections (both retired)

Ink - Real Red

Accessories - gold brads, paper cutter, dimensional popdots, SU punches: Scallop Circle, Round Tab, 1 3/8 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle, 1/16 inch hole punch

I am really looking forward to sharing next month's projects with the group - I've already begun preparations! I do hope you consider joining us for a fun evening!

Well, gotta run, and I'll post again soon... ta ta!

Fun Foam Flowers

I really love having my Big Shot machine to help make projects quickly! I needed to make 8 of these cards to swap with some ladies at my upline's meeting last week, and the Big Shot and the Flower Daisies # 2 die helped make 24 of these flowers in less than 10 minutes. They were created out of white adhesive-backed fun foam (you can purchase the fun foam this way - saving lots of time and mess!), and these flowers are the small daisy on the die (there are 3 sizes altogether). Did you know the Big Shot can cut through 50 different types of materials? Yep, it's versatile and amazing!!! :)

I used a strip of patterned paper from the Razzleberry Lemonade collection, and a Pumpkin Pie block on white cardstock for my cardfront. I did slide two "photo corner" punched pieces under the DSP to bring the pumpkin color over to the left side, and tied a piece of Rich Razzleberry polka-dotted ribbon around. I stamped the sentiment from Sincere Salutations in Rich Razzleberry ink in the lower right corner and glued this onto my Rich Razzleberry cardbase. Before attaching my flowers, I used a 1/2" circle punch to create 3 circles from Rich Razzleberry cardstock for my flower centers. I glued the circles down, then applied the adhesive-backed fun foam flowers on top. Finally, I filled the flower centers with Crystal Effects about 1/3 the height of the foam, and dabbed the end of a toothpick in some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to mix with the Crystal Effects. It's so sparkly!!!

It took just alittle over 2 1/2 hours to make the 8 cards assembly-line style, so that's about 20 minutes a card from start to finish. Not bad at all in my book for something that is homemade and looks nice! I hope that you are having a great weekend - and for those of you who attend my Technique class, don't forget our meeting in a couple days.... see you all soon!

Waterfall Scene

Hello and Happy Friday to you! Today's card is my first go at a waterfall. It utilizes the abstract background technique that I posted about earlier this week. You can see my quick tutorial HERE. This technique was used to create the sky in Bashful Blue and sides of the mountain hillside in Close to Cocoa (with a bit of sponging around the paper edge in Creamy Caramel. The technique was also the basis of the waterfall which was done in Ballet Blue. I drew in the rocks free-hand with a black marker, then colored in with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa markers. I used the Bashful Blue and black marker to create the lines within the water to mimic water flowing over the edges. The white puffs of clouds and sprays of water were created with the edge of a sponge dauber and White Craft ink, then heat-embossed with white embossing powder. I used a touch of white gel pen to add contrast to some of the water. I stamped the large pine tree from the Lovely as a Tree set several times on each side in Handsome Hunter and Black ink. A Soft Suede marker was used for the tree trunks and shadings around the water's edge. I finished up by matting the scene and adding copper brads in the corners.

So whatcha think? It's not quite what I was envisioning when I started, but I enjoyed the creative stretch and learned a bit for the next time. I double-dog-dare-ya to try something new today, too! See ya next time... :)

Stamps - Lovely as a Tree
Paper - white, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Inks - Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Craft White, markers
Accessories - copper brads, white gel pen, sponge daubers, heatgun, white embossing powder

Primary Colored Birthday

Greetings! My youngest daughter just celebrated a birthday... Happy Birthday, Sweetie! I made this card with bright and happy primary colors for this fun occasion. These stamps come from the Party Hearty stamp set.... see below for an image. Each stamp was selectively colored in with Stampin' Up markers before stamping direct-to-paper onto the white cardstock. This is a great technique that I use often, and the trick to stamping a multi-colored image in one step is to simply remember to breathe on ("huff" on) the stamp after coloring ~ the moisture from your breath will reactivate the water-based ink to prepare it for stamping.

If you've got some birthday's coming up, and you need a versatile stamp set - this would be a great set to consider! Here's an image with all the stamps that come with Party Hearty:

Party Hearty ($26.95) item # 111532

Also, I used my Big Shot and a "new-to-this-catalog" Sizzlet called Curves Ahead for the arrow. I used the large arrow on that die with the card above. The scallop circle and cut-out candles were popped up with Dimensionals. If you're interested in the Curves Ahead Sizzlet, here's a picture for you:

Curves Ahead Sizzlet ($5.50) item # 115974

Remember, you can shop anytime on my Stampin'Up website. Thank you for visiting today, and I'll see you again soon.

Stamps - Party Hearty

Paper - Green Galore, Real Red, White

Inks - (all SU markers) Lovely Lilac, YoYo Yellow, Only Orange, Green Galore, Real Red

Accessories - Big Shot, Curves Ahead Sizzlet, dimensional popdots, SU punches: scallop circle, word window, 1 1/2 inch circle

A Bug's Life

Because my dad was in the Air Force, we had an opportunity to live in the Phillipines for almost 3 years when I was a little girl. It was an amazing place, and I think about my experiences there quite often. I learned to ride horses, braved through typhoons (once, a typhoon's eye went right over Clark AB - we played outside for a short while it was passing overhead), and survived a terrible infection from a knee injury. I learned the truth about Santa Claus here, and found that my favorite toys in the whole world were Legos. Being a tropical chain of islands, the Phillipines gave me a real introduction to BUGS, and I mean, bugs of all kinds!!! My favorites to play with and keep as "pets" were praying mantis, and to this day, I still have a fondness for them.

My youngest daughter isn't too squeamish about most bugs, either, and I'll find her playing with them from time to time. When I saw this unfinished box at Michaels for less than a buck, I thought it would be a great "bug" box! It measures about 2 x 3.5 x 2 inches all around, and has a screened & hinged lid on top.

To start, I removed the front hardware/clasp and used acrylic paint for the very top of the box. Even though it's dark in the photo, in real life, the paint is a pretty close match to Rich Razzleberry. The angle of the photo throws the color off a bit. I trimmed Tall Tales Designer Series Paper to size on all four sides (including the lid pieces), and stamped the butterfly & word trail from the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set in Rich Razzleberry ink. The butterfly dots were colored in with a white gel pen. When it was dry, I used ModgePodge to glue the papers on, then rubbed the sanding block on all edges. Little flowers were stamped on both sides using the same acrylic paint (you can see a truer version of the paint color better there), and applied a final coat of ModgePodge. I finished up by gently hammering the hardware back into position...

I hope I didn't make you queasy talking about bugs today, but don't ya think this would make a cute little gift for any budding entomologist?! My little girl thinks it's "the bee's knees"! OK, I couldn't resist - have a great day! :)

A Happy Wish

The last day of summer vacation is here! My boys are groanin' - the girls are thrilled... (I am siding with my girls on this one!). My "to-do" list is a mile long, and I really should be focusing on it, so my post will be a quick one today... Anyhow...

This very simple card was created using the kissing technique. If you're not familiar with this technique, you can click the link to see a step-by-step tuturial by Beate Johns over on SCS. I wanted to add some texture to the solid flower & leaves from the Petal Pizzazz stamp set, so I used stamps from Circle Circus stamp set to bring out some patterns. The flower stem is a stamp from Flight of the Butterfly. I swiped the edges of the white main panel against my Lovely Lilac inkpad. This was matted and placed on a white cardbase. Lastly, a half-back pearl was attached with a gluedot.

Have a terrific Sunday, and I'll see you again very, very soon. :)

Stamps - Petal Pizzazz, Circle Circus, Flight of the Butterfly

Paper - Lovely Lilac, Whisper White

Ink - Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Old Olive

Accessories - half back pearl, gluedot

Abstract Season

Happy Saturday! This is the last sample of the Abstract Background technique that I have to show you. I actually made this card after creating the Abstract Background tutorial a couple posts ago, so my card colors are pretty much the same ones used for that post. I used a different stamp set - this one is called Season of Friendship, and it's so pretty for autumn cards. One of the stamps in this set has a set of three leaves, and I used my markers to color each leaf before stamping. Doesn't it make a pretty background paper? The sentiment was stamped and punched out with the Modern Label punch, and I added a bit of depth with sponging along the edge of it and the background paper. The sentiment was matted and adhered to the cardfront with dimensional popdots. I cut out one set of leaves and glued it to the top of my sentiment for interest. The button has a bit of twine tied through it, and it is attached with a popdot.

I hope that you have a most enjoyable weekend - I have a birthday celebration to attend where there will be lots of Japanese food to eat.... YUM! See you next time... :)

Stamps - Season of Friendship

Paper - Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango

Ink - Summer Sun, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, SU markers: Summer Sun, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa

Accessories - Big Shot, Top Note die, Modern Label punch, sponge, button, twine, dimensional popdots

Abstract Sunrise

Hello Again! Here's another card utilizing the Abstract Background technique described in my last post. This one was made for my Dad, so I tried not to get too "frilly" and kept it on the simple side.

I started this scene first by stamping/tapping a straight line across most of the Whisper White cardstock with the Bashful Blue inkspot. I added a post-it note above the horizon so that my random stamping with the Bashful Blue inkspot wouldn't cross into the sunrise portion above. After making the water by tapping the inkspot randomly around, I removed the post-it note and reapplied it on top of the newly-created water. This was done to protect it from the sunrise scene that was made next... The sunrise was stamped by tapping the inkspots from lightest color to darkest using Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Pale Plum, Almost Amethyst and Ballet Blue inkspots. I removed the post-it note, then used my Close to Cocoa inkspot to create my cascading hillside down the left side and across the bottom of my scene. I finished up by stamping the sentiment & deer from the Nature Silhouettes stamp set, and a floral selection from Pocket Silhouettes in Chocolate Chip ink. This was matted with several layers of cardstock, white brads were inserted, then the whole thing was adhered to the cardfront.

I hope you enjoy my additional sample of the Abstract Background technique. It really is easy to create, and I love how unique it looks! I have one last sample to show you tomorrow, so I hope you get a chance to drop in...

With my kids starting school next week, I need to go do my part in stimulating the economy with some back-to-school purchases! Cha-ching!!! ~8)

Have a super weekend!!

Abstract Background Tutorial

I was playing around with my Stampin' Spot inkpads one day and thought this abstract blending of one color into the next was pretty and unusual, so I made a card with it utilizing the technique for my background on this card. It's so easy to do - just simply start tapping the inkspots randomly from lightest color ink to the darkest.

You can see the whole step-by-step process in pictures below... First, I punched a 1 3/8inch circle from a post-it note and started tapping the Summer Sun inkspot around...



Then I added More Mustard....



Then Pumpkin Pie...



And finished up with Really Rust...



After removing my circle post-it, I filled in the white space with Summer Sun again, and it naturally saturated the center and created a nice halo effect for the sun...



Lastly, I stamped the solid butterfly and floral sprig from the ever-beautiful Great Friend stamp set in Chocolate Chip ink.



I finished the card with matting and alittle bit of sewing. I did lightly sponge Ruby Red ink on the outer edge of the Top Note diecut... just because I like sponging! Tee hee.... However, I tried to keep this one simple so that you could see the technique more clearly. Here's the finished card once again... I have a couple more samples of this technique to share with you, so I hope you can visit again soon. Take care! :)

Current Specials through August...

Wow, I'm back! It's been a whirlwind summer for myself and my family. I'm sure it's been the same for you... Happily, things should start to settle back down for us into a more manageable (and predictable) routine, now that my kids are heading back to school on Monday. I think each one is happy about returning back to school (though my boys WON'T admit that out loud!).

Before I start getting back into the projects I'd like to share with you, I wanted to take this opportunity today to mention that Stampin' Up has wonderful variety of promotions this month.

The Mini Starter Kit is still available for your consideration! If you are someone who loves to purchase Stampin' Up products, and you'd like to get all these goodies at a discount (or even earn items Free when you attain certain goals!), then this is the perfect opportunity for you! If you love to create and share your projects and excitement with others, then this is the perfect opportunity for you! If you'd like to make extra money to pay some bills or support your wonderful hobbies, then this is the perfect opportunity for you!

If you felt compelled by any of the reasons above (or all of them!), and you'd like to do it based on your own schedule, then won't you consider joining the Stampin' Up Family? The Mini Starter Kit is just $85 through August 31st, and you'll receive these wonderful items (or substitute with like items and customize your kit!) -

• For All You Do stamp set
• In Color Classic Stampin' Pads (6)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• Business forms and tools

Or if you want to buy the standard $199 Starter Kit, in addition to the supplies listed below, you'll get all six of the new In Color Classic Stampin' Pads and one pack of In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")--a $43 value! The standard Starter Kit includes

• Five stamp sets
• A Stampin' Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge
• Stampin' Pastels
• Card stock
• Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool
• Five Classic Stampin' Pads
• VersaMark Pad
• Stampin' Scrub and Mist
• Blender pens
• SNAIL
• Business forms and tools

Contact me for the special password to be able to sign up through my Stampin' Up website at june@mycreativecorner.com. If you prefer, we can also snail mail the application, simply send me an email and request the form.

Another August special that Stampin' Up is offering is the Growing Up Promotion! Spend $35 on stamp sets from the Growing Up section of the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog (pages 74-90) and receive a FREE package of Designer buttons--a $7.95 value! Eligible buttons are listed below.

Item #	Page	Description	Retail Value
116313	181	Playground Designer buttons	$7.95
116312	181	Sherbet Designer buttons	$7.95
114333	181	Button Latte Designer buttons	$7.95

There is no limit to the number of free buttons you may earn. For every $35 you spend on Growing Up stamp sets, you will receive a free package of Designer buttons!

For those of you with little ones runnin' around, Stampin' Up has an adorable Décor Elements Growth Chart available just for you! Click the link to see it up close - it's just too cute for words! When you purchase the brand-new Décor Elements Growth Chart (only available August 1-September 30), you'll receive a free applicator tool as a bonus with your purchase (a $1.95 value).

Item #	Description	Price
117519	Décor Elements Growth Chart	$24.95

Lastly, the Country Living Summer Cookout Kit is available at a 40% discount! Click the link to see all the fabulous items included in this kit to make your celebration one to remember!!

You can place your online order through my Stampin' Up website, or send an email to let me know your order at june@mycreativecorner.com. I hope that you are having an enjoyable summer - autumn is just around the corner, and I look forward to getting back into my own "normal" routines and posting regularly once again. Take care and I hope you can come back tomorrow - I have an easy and abstract background technique that you may find very interesting!