Friday, August 29, 2014

Awesome Big Shot

What can you do with a Big Shot and why would you want one?

You can fussy cut stamped images for your cards by hand, but the Big Shot makes die cutting and embossing very easy!

Watch this video to see some examples of what it can do:




Then grab your Big Shot, framelits, dies and embossing folders. Having the right tools can jump start your creative journey! If you would like to join the fun, check out all your options here..

Happy stamping!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Everyday Occasions Cards - Day 5

If you’ve just joined this series of Everyday Occasions cards, you can see the 16 cards created from this kit in my previous four posts, beginning Monday, August 18th. Wow! 16 cards PLUS the 10 cards made in the workshop, for 26 cards total, and I STILL have stuff left. If you're ready for more, I have the last four cards for you! 





Card #17: Since I send a lot of birthday cards, I was inspired to make one using the Gumball Green, Pool Party, and Whisper White color scheme from the sample brochure. The Whisper White card stock measures 3” x 5” and is from my scrap bin.

I stamped the lines from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set in Pool Party and the splotches in Island Indigo. The sentiment is from the ‘And Many More’ stamp set. The mini heart I believe is from the Framed Love Paper Pumpkin kit and everything else is from Everyday Occasions.


 

Card #18: Next I wanted to create a card similar to the gray Congratulations card, but I’m out of Basic Gray card stock after making the 3” x 3” cards (Sigh!). I’ll be placing an order today! To create a similar look, I cut a polka dot piece of basic gray from the retired Neutrals Designer Series pack to 5” x 3-3/4” (Oops – I meant to cut it to 5-1/4” x 4”!) Oh well!


I added the Pool Party heart, half of a doily, and the large silver glimmer banner from the kit. Then I stamped the sentiment “Happiness Always” from the set ‘And Many More’. This time I left everything flat for easy mailing, to be used as an anniversary or wedding card.






Card #19: This time I was inspired by the striped Pool party paper in the kit, so I dug out a similar piece from Comfort Café Designer Series Paper (retired) to put on a Very Vanilla card base. All the other pieces are from the kit, and the layout was inspired by the first card in the brochure.


Card #20: This is it! The last card in the series. I have 2 feathers left from the kit, so I’m using them, along with the sample from the brochure, for this last card. Since I don’t have any Kraft paper, which is new in the catalog this year (another item to add to my order), I’m using Crumb Cake as an alternative for the card base. With Thanksgiving coming next quarter, the feathers seemed appropriate, along with the Give Thanks sentiment from ‘And Many More’ for this card.


The layout mimics the sample, except I moved my button a bit to balance out the smaller sentiment that I chose.


Here are all the sentiments that are included in the Everyday Occasions kit:






So there you have it! 20 sample for the Everyday Occasions card kit, using 3 colors of ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party and Smoky Slate/Basic Gray, a couple of punches or dies, the sentiments shown above, as well as Gorgeous Grunge, And Many More and Teeny Tiny Wishes and maybe some card stock, DSP, twine or embellishments from your stash.


The photo below shows most of the products used to create all of the cards in this series. I've included links underneath the photo to all the products in my online store, in case you need a few items to get started on your own card-making marathon!




I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my samples as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you! I have lots of ideas now for using up some more of the Designer Series Paper I’ve collected in the past three years, but I think I’m ready to change color schemes at this point.



Now go and be creative, then share what you’ve made!



Happy Stamping!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Everyday Occasions Cards - Day 4

After the workshop I mentioned on Day 1 of this series, I had 10 card bases left. I made three additional 3”x3” thank you cards to complete the set of 4 small cards yesterday, so now I only have one of the original card bases left. BUT I still have LOTS of tags & embellishments!

First I’ll share the last card I made from the kit card bases:


Card #13: This one is very similar to the sample, but I exchanged a glimmer paper circle for the scalloped circle and added a silver glimmer heart.

Whew! 13 cards done, and I still have more tags. What to do? Use the card kit color combinations and layouts to create some more cards, of course!


Card #14: Mimic the look of the gray polka dot card above by punching ½” circles out of Whisper White scraps. Adhere them with a glue stick, or your favorite adhesive.

The heart banners, kraft scallop & larger white circle are from the kit. I used Smoky Slate ink (since my Basic Gray needs reinking) and the Happy Birthday sentiment from “And Many More”.

Then I added a few Pool Party splatters using the “Gorgeous Grunge” stamp set, and a few Calypso Coral hearts. One tiny silver glimmer heart on the circle adds a little sparkle to this sentiment layer!


 Card #15: I still have some Summer Starfruit Designer Series Paper in my collection (do you?), so I cut a 4” x 5-1/4” piece for this card & attached it to a Very Vanilla card base.

Next I added a Kraft heart from the kit and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in Pool Party on the tag.

The little Kraft banner piece was created by trimming around the scrap left from the banner cutout. To finish off the card, I added a Calypso Coral baker’s twine bow.

Sweet!


Card #16: After using Calypso Coral accents on a few of these cards, I decided to use it as the base for this one. All the other pieces are from the kit, except the small piece of washi tape that snuck into the upper right corner.

Here's what's left for the next card-making session:



In case you need to add a few items to your stash, here are the links to all the products, or similar products, used in this series so far:


That's all I have for today!

Happy Stamping everyone!