You Are My Sunshine...

Hey there stampers! Just a quick post tonight. I am taking a few weeks off from teaching stamping classes because life is going to be very busy over the coming weeks. I LOVE teaching classes, but I find that I don't stamp very often unless I am preparing for an event. I hope to use this break from classes to stamp more for fun and do more challenges. My stamping really seems to improve when I "challenge" myself more often.

In that spirit, I sat down tonight and finally inked up the new single stamp "Sunshine" (available until March 31st) that I ordered not long ago. I love this stamp. It is super cute and it reminds me of my two sweet kiddos because I used to (badly) sing "You Are My Sunshine" to them when they were babies. I learned a new technique in the online class called "The Basics" offered by SU! and wanted to pair it with this stamp. What do you think?

 

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Sunshine

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight marker, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Window framelits, brayer, Iridescent Ice EP, heat tool, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Stampin' Pierce Mat, Paper Piercer, brights brads

 

Don't you just love the sparkly rays of the sun with this sentiment? So fun!

 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop back tomorrow for the newest Fab Friday challenge!



Pin It

April Blog Hop!

Welcome back for another edition of the Stylin' Stampin' Squad's monthly blog hop! This month the themes are wedding, flowers, and spring. I have a different project for each theme. I hope you like them!

My first project is a wedding card. I used the emboss resist technique and the Hello Doily stamp to make this very sparkly (although the picture doesn't show the sparkles very well), elegant card. I love the way it turned out and am really excited to say that I designed this one completely on my own. I just sat down and started to play and this was the result. I love it when it works out like that! If you have never tried the emboss resist technique, head on over to Splitcoast and take a look at the awesome tutorial (complete with a video) they have posted.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Hello Doily, Petite Pairs
Paper: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Ink: VersaMark, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Big Shot, Finial Press EF, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Eyelet Border punch, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Very Vanilla seam binding, Baja Breeze seam binding, basic pearls, sponge
Technique: emboss resist

My 3D project this month is an Easter/Spring decorative picture. It was inspired by this card made by Glenda Mollet that I found on Pinterest. I love the daffodils made from the Fun Flowers die. They were so easy to make! I added some pearls to the centers and scored the petals of the flowers and layered everything with dimensionals. The sky and grass in the background is sponged using Old Olive and Baja Breeze Ink. Easy peasy! I planned to add a "Happy Easter" sentiment, but decided that if I didn't, it could be a spring decoration rather than just Easter.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: none
Paper: Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight
Ink: Old Olive, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Simply Scored, basic pearls, dimensionals, sponge, 5x7 frame (non-SU)
Technique: sponging


My final project is a birthday card that I made for my little sister. Today is her 26th birthday! Happy Birthday, Marcy! (I hope she doesn't see this posting before she gets her card at her birthday dinner tonight!) I used this month's blog hop challenge as my inspiration for this card. The challenge is to use the Vintage Vogue stamp set and the colors Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, and Elegant Eggplant. A challenge to use purple and green? Yep, I had to play along! I also decided to try another fun fold card. I have seen lots of center step cards and think they are beautiful, but I had never tried one myself. I was surprised at how easy it was to make. They are great because they are lovely cards that also make amazing display pieces. If you have never tried a center step card, check out the tutorial (complete with video) over on Splitcoast.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Petite Pairs
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Paper Trimmer, Scallop Trim Border punch, paper snips, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, large pearls, basic pearls, dimensionals


Well, I hope you enjoyed the projects that I made this month. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please continue through the blog hop (Darcy is next!) and take a minute to leave a few comments. We love to read your feedback. The complete list of bloggers is at the bottom of this post just in case you get lost along the way. Happy Hoppin'!

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Creative Electica
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
4. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps a Lot
5. Anji C. of Altered Scraps Blog
6. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
7. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
8. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
9. Patricia T. of Sunnyone Stampin'
10. Heather W. of Heather's Stampin' Blog
11. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
12. Linda O. of Stamp at Linda's
13. Marla R. of Marla's Stampin' Spot
14. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
15. Nicole B. of Creations by Mommy
16. Pam S. of Sunny Girl Scraps
17. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim

Pin It

The Sounding Joy

Hello again!

Two postings in two days! Don't any of you go into shock! I'm trying to do better about stamping at least two or three days a week and stamping for fun more often (instead of just when I'm prepping for an event). I am loving all of the challenge sites out there. They are really great. I made this card for two different challenges- Freshly Made Sketches and Hand Stamped Sentiments. I haven't played along with Hand Stamped Sentiments before, but when I saw that this weeks challenge was to use embossing, I had to do it. I love embossing of all types. Nothing gives a card that WOW effect like embossing. I used two types of embossing on this card- dry embossing and heat embossing. I tried something that I had never done before on this card. I sponged the edges of the image panel using Versa Mark ink and then sprinkled silver embossing powder over the sponged ink and heat set it. I really like the effect that it gave. I don't think that I have ever seen this done before, but decided to try it because sponging with classic ink just didn't do it for this card.

I used a brand new stamp set, The Sounding Joy, on this card. It is in the holiday mini catalog and it arrived on my doorstep just about two hours ago. This has to be a new record for how quickly I made a card with a new stamp set! I also used another holiday mini item- the Snow Burst embossing folder. I love the super deep impressions that it makes!



Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: The Sounding Joy
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Brushed Silver, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink: Not Quite Navy (for sponging the edges of the stars), Baja Breeze, Versa Mark
Accessories: Big Shot, Show Burst embossing folder, heat tool, silver embossing powder, sponge
Techniques: Heat Embossing, Dry Embossing, sponging

I hope that you liked this card! If you need some inspiration, check out the challenge sites that I linked above. Have a great day!

~Marla

Pin It

Technique Club Cards #2

Good Monday afternoon! I hope you had a great weekend! My technique hostess club met for the second time on Friday night and we had a wonderful time. I have been blessed with a really fun group of ladies in my club! We even had two new ladies join our group this time. It really was so much fun! At this meeting, we focused on techniques using heat embossing. The card above uses heat embossing only and the card below we used a technique called emboss resist. I was really happy with how these cards turned out. I hope my club members liked them too!

This card was a CASE of a card made by Michelle Hamilton that I found on splitcoast.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Because I Care (level one hostess)
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper EF, Heat Tool, Black Embossing Powder, Basic Black Satin Ribbon

This was the second card we made. It is a redo of a card I posted back in November. I really loved that card and thought it would be pretty redone using bright, springy colors. This card was used to teach the emboss resist technique. The larger flowers were embossed using clear embossing powder and then we sponged Sahara Sand ink over the embossed image giving it the soft shadow around the edges. This is called emboss resist because once you emboss an image, it resists ink so it doen'st stick to the image. There is also a new set that will appear in the new Idea book and Catalog that will be released in July. It is called Four Frames. I used it on the sentiment image. I love that this set coordinates with one of my favorite punches- the Decorative Label punch. Customers will have an opportunity to purchase and hostesses will be able to earn it for free during the month of April only! Contact me for more information!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Four Frames

Paper: Rose Red, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink: Sahara Sand, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Decoratvie Label punch, Heat Tool, Clear Embossing power, Basic pearls, sponge dauber

Techniques: Dry Embossing, Heat Embossing, Emboss Resist

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop back by soon!

~Marla

Pin It

Emboss Resist

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! I am visiting my parents for the holiday. We arrived last night after a long but uneventful trip. When traveling with two little ones, an uneventful trip is definitely something to be thankful for. I'm really looking forward to visiting with family and friends that I don't get to see often enough, and I am, of course, excited about all the good food!

Isn't this card so pretty? I saw a video on Dawn Griffith's blog where she made a card very similar to this one and decided that I needed to make my own. It used the emboss resist technique, which is where you heat emboss an image and then sponge or roll ink over it. The ink will not stick to the area that is embossed. The large flowers on the card were stamped with Versamark ink, then covered with clear embossing powder, then heat embossed with the heat tool. I then sponged over them with Crumb Cake ink on a sponge dauber. I think it turned out beautifully. I recently (finally) purchased the heat tool and it has been such a great investment. I have been using it all the time because there are so many really cool things that can be done with it.

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

~Marla

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets: Occasional Quotes (level 3 hostess), Vintage Vogue
Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Basic Pearls
Techniques: dry embossing, heat embossing, emboss resist, sponging Pin It

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Hello! Happy Thanksgiving week to all of you! I just want to say that I am very thankful to all of you who come and visit my blog, come to my events, and place orders through me! I have had a really successful year and it's all thanks to you!

This is a birthday card I made for my niece, Hannah. She is turning six next week and I knew I needed to get a card made now before life gets super busy with Thanksgiving travels. We made a version of this card (which is a CASE of one made by Tessa Wise) at the birthday card class I held back in September, but I don't think that card ever got posted. I made this one to fit the color challenge on Splitcoast last week, which was Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, and Pear Pizzazz. I have to say that I love this combo! I really love Baja Breeze and any shade of purple, so this was a great one for me. It's hard to see in the picture, but I heat embossed the balloons with VersaMark and clear embossing powder to make the balloons appear shiny. It gives a cool effect!

Everyone have a wonderful week! I have a few other cards to post this week, so check back often!

~Marla

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Everything Nice, Crazy for Cupcakes
Paper: Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz
Ink: VersaMark, Black Staz On, Perfect Plum marker, Baja Breeze marker, Pear Pizzazz marker
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Scallop Border punch, Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Certainly Celery ribbon (retired), Linen Thread
Technique: dry embossing, heat embossing Pin It