New England Stamper

Limited Supply Friday

I finally felt up to a little stamping today (sick again the last 2 days - when will winter end and we can all be healthy again?)

I took on today's Limited Supply Challenge, which was to make a card with only one flower stamp and any embellishments.  A sentiment was optional, but no designer paper, Cuttlebug, background stamps or rub-ons could be used. 

I've been playing with my friend's Morning Soft set and this is what I came up with.  It's a really pretty set and I'm so tempted to buy it after playing with it.  The main image was stamped with  Stazon and watercolored with classic ink.  The card base was stamped with the Morning Glory stamp in certainly celery, just to give it a little interest.  I made a post-it note mask of the flower and sponged so saffron all around the image.  Enjoy!

Recipe:

• Stamps: Morning Soft, All Holidays
• Paper: certainly celery, barely banana, watercolor paper
• Ink: brown Stazon, brilliant blue, certainly celery, so saffron
• Accessories: aquapainter, soft subtles brads, small oval punch, sponge

Color Challenge Sympathy Card

Today Color Challenge on Splitcoast was called Black Rock Elegance - who could resist such a challenge?  The colors to use are basic black, river rock and whisper white.  I wanted to make a sympathy card for a friend who lost her Grandfather at the weekend and I thought that these colors lent themselves well to this type of card.

The card is very similar to one I made at the weekend for the Featured Stamper Challenge, so essentially it's a case.  The main image uses the hostess set From The Garden.  I stamped it with basic black ink onto whisper white card stock and cut out the flower portion.  Using a blender pen and river rock ink refill, I highlighted the petals.  To give the center of the flower a little more definition, I added small dots with a black marker.  The sentiment is from a retired hostess set.

The background paper is from the retired Brocade Backgrounds and is sponged with black ink.  The black card stock frame measures 3.25 x 4.5 and is 1/4" thick.  The small flat backed white pearls are from the Pretties Kit.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day!

Become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

There's never been a better time to sign up to be an SU Demonstrator!  Until March 17 Stampin' Up! is running an amazing recruiting special:

The Starter Kit is 20% off the regular price ($159 instead of $199) PLUS you'll receive an extra free stamp set up to a $47.95 value.  As an added bonus, I will add a free Sell-a-Bration set of your choice to your Starter Kit.  Does it get any better?

The Starter Kit includes all the stamping and business supplies that you need to get your Stampin' Up! business started.  The total value of the products is $375 - it really is a great deal!  You can view the full list of contents here.

Before signing up to be an SU demo, you're sure to have lots of questions.  I will be holding an Opportunity Night on Thursday, March 6 at 7:30pm.  This will be a great time to come and ask those questions in a relaxed, no-pressure setting. 

If you've been thinking about joining the Stampin' Up! family for a while, now is the perfect time.  For further information about this great opportunity, email me at alimanning@charter.net or call          (978) 448-3862       .

Weekend Sketch

Happy Monday everyone!  The kids are back at school - yeah!!

I had time to try Beate's weekend sketch yesterday - it's been so long since I did one of these.  Check out here amazing blog Fresh & Fun.  It's at the top of list of blogs that I (try to) check every day.

I used a new set from the Occasions Mini (starts March 1) called Essense of Love.  I used markers to ink up image, which was a little time consuming, but I didn't want it to be all one color.  I did have to go over some of the lines afterwards with markers because they didn't come out as crisply as I would have liked.  I love the sentiment from this set, it's the main reason I bought the set.  I'm going to send this to a friend who brought over soup when I was sick.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Essense of Love
• Paper: very vanilla base, chocolate chip, Ginger Blosson dp
• Ink: chocolate chip, ruby red, old olive markers
• Accessories: choc chip Taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, sponge

Thanks for looking!

Back Stamping

I'm finally back stamping and blogging.  My daughter and I have been sick for about 3 weeks with pneumonia and a sinus infection.  The second round of antibiotics are finally working, so I feel up to little challenge stamping.  Today is Featured Stamper Challenge on Splitcoast and I'm particularly excited because today's stamper is a major favorite of mine - Mary Jo Albright.  Check out her awesome blog Beauty Lies Within.

I chose a card from her gallery that uses the Level 1 Hostess set From the Garden.  When I got this stamp, I thought I'd use it a lot, but of course it's never seen ink!  Mary Jo's card is hundreds times better than mine, but I'm happy with the way mine turned out.  It just feels good to be stamping again.

I stamped the image twice onto naturals ivory paper with Versamark ink and colored them with Stampin' Pastels - old olive, pumpkin pie, more mustard and ruby red - using sponge daubers.  I cut out one whole image and a separate flower, then layered them with a lot of dimensionals.  I very lightly outlined the flower and leaves with coordinating markers to give them a little definition. 

Recipe:

• Stamps: From The Garden
• Paper: chocolate chip, more mustard, ruby red, old olive, naturals ivory
• Ink: Versamark, Stampin' Pastels, more mustard & old olive marker
• Accessories: Antique brads, ivory organdy ribbon, lots of dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.  Come again - there'll be lots more stamping going on!

Flower Pot Card Template

At February Stamp Camp we made this cute Flower Pot Lollipop Card.  I've had quite a few requests for a template, so here it is.  My friend Christyann, who is a template whiz, was kind enough to make this great template. 

Download flower_pot_lollipop.pdf

It's a little late for Valentines Day this year, but it's so versatile it can be used year round.  They would make cute party or shower favors.

Enjoy!

Blogger Award

A little bright spot in my day was provided by Michele Force - she nominated me for a E for Excellence Blogger Award (I think that's right) - what a sweetie.  Check out Michele's blog The Stamp Link - she does really great work.

I will get my thinking cap on and come up with some great blogs to nominate in the next few days.

Thanks Michele!

Double Pocket Cards

No stamping happening here!  My poor baby is still sick with pneumonia and having such a hard time. 

So, I'm sharing with you two double pocket cards that my friend Sharon and I made last month.  You may remember Sharon was my Guest Blogger a few weeks ago.  To see more of her work, visit her blog Ill Tempered Ink.  She shared with me this Technique Junkie's card fold and I think they came out great.  It has a lot of possibilities for enclosing gift cards, bookmarks etc.

Here's Sharon's:

And here's the tags:

Here's the version I came up:

And the inside:

Have a wonderful day!

Scrapping with Rub-ons

Sickness is still king in this household.  When will flu season end?  I've had very little time to stamp, but I did get one scrapbook page done.  I was looking through  my photos and realized how much my daughter's smile changes every few months.  Her baby teeth are gradually being replaced with adult teeth and her smile always looks a little different.  Hence, a page about her changing smile.

It's a 12x12 page and I used the Sale-a-Bration set Friendship Blooms and the co-ordinating rub-ons, Love and Happiness.  I love these rub-ons because they come in four different colors - black, white, old olive and chocolate chip.  I used the old olive and white on this page. The title is stamped using Stampin' Up!'s Big Deal Alphabet and the c/stock colors are Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, So Saffron plus white.

The bottom edge of the page and the top corners are all rub-ons.  The three flowers in the center are a combination of stamped and rub-on images cut from so saffron c/stock:

I like being able to apply the rub-on to different surfaces seamlessly.  If I had stamped this image in the corner over the textured c/stock and title letters, it would not have come out cleanly or evenly.  I did the same in the righthand corner trailing the rub-on onto the photo.

I'm definitely warming to these rub-ons.  I can't wait to try them on more projects - it's just finding the time to do them.  Thanks for stopping by!

Essense of Love

I did yesterday's sketch challenge, but wasn't happy with the card.  I left it over night and still can't figure out what I don't like about it.  So, I decided to leave it alone and move on. 

I wanted to share the card because it uses a new set from the Occasions Mini which starts on March 1.  The set is called Essense of Love and I love the style of the main stamp.  It's a little different from the regular SU offering.  It includes a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson: "The essense of love is kindness" - very nice.  This card also gives you a sneak peek at a new color of Hodge Podge Hardware - Styled Silver.  It's very elegant - you can see the pretty ribbon slide on the right of the card.

If you subscribe to my newsletter you might remember that this month's quick tip was to use a Versamark and classic ink to emboss an image if you don't have the right color craft ink or embossing powder.  I used this technique here.  I inked the main image firstly with Versmark, then Old Olive classic ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I also used this technique for the butterfly.  (I apologize again for picture quality - it's so gloomy here in the North East).

Recipe:

• Stamps: Essense of Love, Tres Chic
• Paper: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Brocade Background dp (retired)
• Ink: Versamark, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, River Rock
• Other: Styled Silver Hodge Podge, Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon, word window punch, clear embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by.