Stamping & Scrapping with Jen

Turtle & Co. Card

I love the Turtle & Co. stamp set!!!  It reminds me of some older Stampin' up! sets from a few years back that were just simple, clean lined, and CUTE!!!  (Remember Unfroggetable, Ahoy Matey, etc.)  And the fact that the price point of this set is so reasonable AND $3 from the sales of the set goes towards the Ronald McDonald House Charities, I think it makes it hard to NOT put it on your wish list!!!

We made this card at last month's Technique Tuesday class.  The technique was actually the background, which was made by brayering color on the Stripes Embossing Folder, running it through the Big Shot, then repeating the process, but turning the paper 90 degrees.  It was so cute and so easy!!!  Everybody really liked it!!

If you haven't gottten your Turtle & Co stamp set yet, you can order it now in my online store.  The sooner you get it, the sooner you can play!!!

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It's Technique Tuesday!!

Hey there Peelin' Peeps!

Today was a fun day of Technique Tuesday Classes.  I had one in the morning at 10:00 and another in the evening at 7:00.  I have to remember next month that I should start my classes at 10:30 on Tuesday because I have my group coaching confernece calls Tuesday mornings and the end at 10; well, they are supposed to end at 10, but occassionally it'll be 10:05, or 10:10, and once I think it was 10:20!!!  Today wasn't too bad and thankfully my morning girls were patient with me for the 2 or 3 extra minutes we went over!!!  :)

I snapped some photos from this morning's class.  I had 8 people - one who was brand new to Technique Tuesday.  I think she left really excited, so hopefully she'll be back!!!

I asked Mary, one of my evening customers which project I should sahre with you and she said the deer, so Mary - here you go!!!!  The technique here is the Reflection techniwue.  You need to stamp the deer first, then stamp him again on a piece of Window Sheet, then press his image onto the paper opposite the original image.  This creates the mirror image.  I then sponged and masked the sky to create the rest of the background.  Your end result is an image that looks like it's relected in water or on snow.  It's great for winter and water scenes.

The products used here are:

• Stamps: Nature Silhouettes
• Ink: Early Espresso, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder
• Accessories: Stamping songes, Post-It Notes, White Gel Pen

Hope you enjoyed today's sample!!  Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of "Scrapbooker to Card Maker: Is it Possible?"

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Flower Fest Meets Poppin' Pastels

When I saw this sample in the Summer Mini catalog (it's on p. 20), I knew which technique we would do at the next Technique Tuesday Class - Poppin' Pastels!!!

This set, Flower Fest, is such a great set for this technique.  If you haven't ever done Poppin' Pastels before, all you need is a Versamark ink pad and Stampin' Pastels.  You stamp your image in Versamark and apply your pastels using a sponge dauber.  The color is very dark where the Versamark is and then it fades out softly around the image.

I worked really hard today cleaning up my office and work space (yes, again).  Pam (my very fabulous) assistant was here to help me and we were pretty productive for 5 or 6 hours!!!  All my retired stuff is pulled off the shelves, retired cards are organized, papers are organized, and my desk is cleaned off!!  I have a few more things to do to get it totally finished, but I am excited to get it done and start this year off on the right foot!!

As a reward, once I get it all done, I am going to work on my swaps for convention!  I also have some gifts to make, so that will be a great treat to play in my newly cleaned office.  And maybe, maybe, if I'm really good, I'll get to play with more new stuff!!!!  Oh, I hope, I hope!!!

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It's Technique Tuesday!!

Today is my Technique Tuesday Class!!  (The last Tuesday of every month is Technique Tuesday!!)  Every month I introduce new techniques and sometimes I LOVE the techniques that we do, and sometimes they are just okay (which oftentimes means someone else will LOVE it, but I don't always have the same passion for each one).  This month was one of those months that I LOVED the techniques!!  And the even better part was that my TT Stampers (Technique Tuesday Stampers) really liked them too!!!

One of the techniques we did was Double Embossing.  I was inspired by a sample in my Stampin' Success magazine.  As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, we receive this awesome magazine every month with lots of project ideas, techniques, and information.  I took the sample, and (shockingly!) simplified it a little bit, but it was a big hit!!!  Here it is!

So to do this cool technique, you use the embossing folders AND heat embossing.  You start by applying Versamark ink with a brayer to the negative side of the embossing folder.  Then run your paper through, apply embossing powder, and heat.  Since I used the Newsprint DSP (which is in the new catalog!!  YAY!!), it already had a background which I think just adds to the effect.  Overall with the papers and colors I chose I think it came out very vintage looking, which I love!  I might have to demo this via a YouTube video...  Stay tuned for that!!

Here is a full recipe:

• Stamps: Three Little Words
• Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
• Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla cardstock and Newsprint DSP
• Accessories: Fancy Flower Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Blossom Petals Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Antique Brads, Rich Razzleberry 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Chantilly Crochet Trim, Black Embossing Powder, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Stamping Sponges

Hope you enjoyed today's card!!!

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This Card Caused A Lot of Headaches!!!

Last month at my Technique Tuesday class I introduced the Brick Wall technique.  All you basically do is stamp an image then cut it up into individual 1/2" x 1" "bricks" then piece it back together again on another piece of cardstock.

Well, everyone had such a tough time!!  I think the girls that were here were ready to send me into a brick wall!!!  Thankfully, they love me!!  :) (whew!)

And to their credit, I realized after we were in mid-class, that it might have been helpful to have a couple step-by-step samples to show, but by the time I thought of it, some people were near done.

This is the sample of the project.  It uses the Elements of Style stamp set and also the Sanded background stamp.  The background is stamped in Crumb Cake ink and the main floral image is in Basic Black.  I wanted to keep a monochromatic feel to the card.

I guess overall, not every technique is going to be a winner, but the important thing is to learn something new and try something different.  Most of the time, people do like the techniques, and who knows - maybe now that some time has passed some of the people who were here last month might even like the Brick Wall technique a little more.  (It's kind of like child birth - after some time passes, you forget how painful it is.) :)

Three days til race day, which I have now chosen to refer to as run day.  It makes it less stressful if it's just a run, rather than the race.  My friend Theresa is on fire, and I think she is going to do awesome on Sunday.  I think I am going to finish the race run with some foot pain and probably some other agony, but I know I can do it.  And since by the time I cross the finish line, T will have stretched, had some water, maybe had something to eat, I know she will be right back at the finish line to cheer me on.  She is so, so good like that!!!!  I <3 her!!!!!  And I just might have given up if it weren't for her!!!!

See you tomorrow!!

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Build a Blossom of Easter Wishes

I really like this new punch & stamp set!!  Doesn't that flower look amazing??

 

This card was one I created for our last Technique Tuesday Class, and the technique was actually the Gate Fold Card, but the coolness of the stamp set and punch combo really overshadows the mechanical aspect of the card.

I used Pink Pirouette cardstock for the "top" layer of the petals, but it's stamped with Pretty in Pink ink.  I very gently rolled these petals over my fingers to give each one a little curve.  The "bottom" layer of petals is Pretty in Pink cardstock (not stamped, just punched).  The leaves are Old Olive (ink & cardstock).

The Regal Rose band I used behind the flower is what the entire flower is attached to.  A Build-a-Brad in the center uses the stamp set stamped in Regal Rose ink on Regal Rose cardstock.

Altogether there are 5 petals of each color which fit nicely across an 8-1/2" strip of cardstock if you know where to start and how to punch across.  I don't have a photo of that, (I already threw away all the scraps), but I can show you what I mean in a future post.  Heck, maybe I can even make that a video!!!   Stay tuned for that.

Just a quick note to "brag" about the fact that I got another long run in today!!  It's the biggest since my 10 mile race back in October, and it was in fact 10 miles!  I ran it 9 minutes slower than my race pace in October, but since it's a training run, it's supposed to be slower - I obviously wasn't racing; it was more like I was just trying to get to 10 and accomplish that!!!  I felt pretty good, so overall I feel like I'm in right where I want to be in terms of training for the half-marathon that is (yikes) 5-1/2 weeks away.  I took some Advil afterwards since my legs were a little tired, and it helped a lot.  In fact, I think I felt much better after this run than I did after any of my training runs leading up to the 10 Miler.

Okay, enough babble!!!  I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow!!  In the meantime, LIKE me on Facebook, so you can keep an eye on some of the fun stuff that goes on there!!

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More New Babies in the Family

Remember this post, where I shared the baby girl card I made for my sister-in-law Renee?  We knew Renee was having a little girl, so I made a bunch of baby girl cards.  And now we have a new baby boy to add to the family, too!

My sister-in-law Melissa had a baby boy last weekend, so they inspired this card that we did at my last Technique Tuesday class.

The technique here is Bargello, which is actually a needleworking technique, but we papercrafters have borrowed the technique and converted it to paper using striped patterned paper.  You can technically cut and lay the paper any way you would like, but in this specific example, I cut the striped paper into 1/4" and 1/2" strips, and then glued them back on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, but alternated each strip.  This creates little areas of color which make your eye move around.  It's a pretty simple background or accent technique with some pretty neat results!

The patterned paper used above is the Nursery Suite Specialty Designer Series Paper.  It actually has a girl-themed and a boy-themed stripe in the package, so you can make lots of cards with the Bargello technique with this pack of paper!  The stamp used is an a la carte stamp (which means you can buy it all by itself), called Baby Steps.  We colored it in with markers instead of using an ink pad to get the multi-colored image.

If you like this technique, and you are in the Morris County, New Jersey area, check out my Technique Tuesday class - on the last Tuesday of every month. We always have fun and everyone learns a new thing or two (or three!)  For more details on upcoming dates and times, click here.

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Technique Tuesday Sneak Peek: Easter Blossoms Polished Stone

Here's one of the cards that we're doing at Technique Tuesday today.  I went back to the basics and dug up some old techniques for this month.  This is the oldie but goodie - Polished Stone.  I used to always use a metallic ink when I did this technique, but this sample uses only two regular classic ink colors - Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery.

And I do love this little girl and the set Easter Blossoms.  :)

I have to also share that my girls helped with the design of this card.  I had the main image all stamped and layered and ready to go and I was going to orient the card vertically (portrait) with the greeting on the bottom right.  Not one but BOTH girls told me it should go the other way, so after some agonizing minutes on my part (really??  should it be that hard to make such a simple decision??), I went with their suggestion.  And I have to say, I like it.  Perhaps I am becoming too predicatable with my cards.  Maybe I need to join a swap or something to get some inspiration.  Or maybe I can just have my kids design my cards for me!!!  :)

In any case, those of you joining me for Technique Tuesday, I will see you later!!

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Another Mojo Monday on a Tuesday

Here's another sneak peek for my Technique Tuesday girls.  Today we'll be making a Tunnel Card and the front of the card is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch!

It uses the Seasons of Joy stamp set, which has been around for ever!!  Short post today - I'm still catching up from being gone for the weekend!!!

Be sure you are signed up for my mailing list though!  Tomorrow is Week 5 in the 12 Weeks of Christmas and it'll be the last card in the series.

Hey Color Throwdown Challenge, You Rock!!!

My friend Elisabeth introduced me to the Color Throwdown Challenge last weekend.  (Not sure how I never heard of this one yet, but anyway.)  So this week, I decided to play!!  Sorry to those of you who were expecting or hoping for a video today, but it was not in the cards this week (hahaha, get it???)!!!

The Color Throwdown Challenge is a site that suggests a color combination and it's your job to come up with a project using those colors.  This week, we had Dusty Durango, So Saffron, and Perfect Plum to work with.  Since Dusty Durango is now retired, I swapped it out with Pumpkin Pie and used the Baby-Wipe Technique.  (SPOILER ALERT!!!  This will be one of the projects we'll be doing at my Technique Tuesday class next week.)

By the time I get to next Tuesday, I will have one big milestone behind me.  On Sunday morning, I'll be running the Army Ten-Miler.  It's a huge race (30,000 people) and I'm both really excited and really nervous at the same time. (Remember back in the spring when I thought a 5k was a lot???)

Never fear, faithful blog readers, I will have posts for you on Saturday and Sunday even though I will be traveling to our nation's capital to run 10 miles!!!  I'm ready for the run, but can you be ready for 30,000 people???  Think of me and send good thoughts!!!  I'll be sure to give you the results next week!!

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