Aug

1

Sticky: Dreams du Jour Class Planner & Stamp Class by Email Now Available!

Filed Under Class Planning Service for SU Demos | 13 Comments 

* Scroll down to see my regular daily posts - this post will remain at the top of my blog until Aug. 10th*

Dreams du Jour

The best things in life grow out of our dreams, don’t they? Why not encourage someone to follow their own dreams when you send them one of these beautiful and inspiring cards featuring all new product from Stampin’ Up!’s Fall/Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog! This card set is based on SU’s new 2008 “in colors”, the Dreams du Jour stamp set and Bella Rose designer paper. In this class you’ll create these four cards, and a custom-designed box to hold them in. This card set also makes a wonderful gift for a friend or special someone!

There are two versions of this class available - click on the links below for more details.

Stamp Class by Email: $19.95, and can be purchased from The Sunny Stampin’ Store.

Class Planner for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators: $24.95, and can be purchased from the Demo to Demo website.

If you signed up for the 12 month subscription for either of these versions, your planner will be emailed to you today.  Be sure to check your spam if you don’t see it in your inbox by the end of the day. If it’s not there, please email me at andrea@sunnystampin.com.

Aug

7

Stampin’ Up! Try it Out Thursday: Paper Piecing with the Bella Rose Designer Paper

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Try it Out Thursday, Tutorials | 4 Comments 

Stampin' Up! Designer Paper

Every Thursday here at blog is what I call my Stampin’ Up! Try it Out Thursday.  The purpose of my Thursday posts are to look for different ways to use my Stampin’ Up! supplies.  For today’s Try it Out Thursday, I’d thought I’d do a quick feature on paper piecing using my Bella Rose Designer paper.  The rose pattern is so beautiful that I wanted to see what it would look like as the main image for my card.  The only caution I have to give you when you are doing this technique is that you end up wasting a lot of your designer paper because you need to use a fairly big piece to be able to get all your different layers.Below I’ll show you a quick step-by-step on what I did.

Step 1: First I found the rose I wanted to cut out, and trimmed around it quite closely using my paper snips.

Stampin' up!

Step 2: I the went back to my DP and cut out three more layers for the rose, each successively smaller as you can see from the picture below.  For the leaves, I cut out the part of each leaf that was shaded.  I also cut out one of the small flowers and both buds.

Stampin' up!

Step 3: Once I had all the layers I wanted cut out, I proceeded to mount them to the main rose using Dimensionals.  As you can see from the picture (sorry it turned out a bit blurry near the top) I have 3 layers on top of the rose, and one layer for the leaves and flowers. 

Stampin' Up!

Step 4: Decorate the remainder of your card as desired. 

Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Elegant Cheer
Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Bella Rose
Accessories: Paper piercer, foam mat, paper piercing template, stamp-a-ma-jig, wide olive grosgrain ribbon, stampin’ sponge

Aug

6

Whatever Wednesday: Key Chain Post-it Note Holder Tutorial

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Whatever Wednesday | 3 Comments 


For today’s Stampin’ Up! Whatever Wednesday post I thought I’d share with you a tutorial and template for this cute key-chain post-it note holder.  The idea comes from a gift I received from a fellow SU demonstrator (her first name is Julie, but unfortunately I don’t know her last name).  She had made a cute holder with the smallest size of post-it-note pads.  I thought it was such a neat idea that I re-created one using a larger sized pad.  I have created a template for you which you can download below, but I have to warn you, there is math involved as it shows you how to customize the template based on whatever size post-it note you want to use.

Download the Key Chain Post-it Note Template HERE

Step 1: Take a pad of post-it notes and split it up into 3-4 smaller pads. The full thickness of the pad is a bit too big and makes it that much harder tu punch.  Use the template provided to determine your CS size, then score following the measurements you calculate using the template.

Step 2: Decorate your front cover as desired.  Take a 1/8" handheld punch (or Crop-a-Dile) and punch a hole in the top left corner of the front cover. Close the cover.Take a pin or a paper piercer and put a small mark in the inside back cover (center the paper piercer in the center of the hole you punched), and use this as a guide to punch your hole in the back cover.

Stampin' Up!

Step 3: Position your post it note holder inside the cover and use a pencil or paper piercer to make a small mark where you need to punch your hole.  (disregard the little mark you see in the picture that is above the hole I punched - that was a mistake). You may need to split your post-it note pad up into sections to punch your hole as I did in the picture. If you have a Crop-a-Dile, you’ll be able to punch through a greater thickness at once - this was a real "duh!" moment for me because I actually do have a Crop-a-Dile, but didn’t even think of pulling it out, instead I had to make life more difficult for myself and I used my 1/8" handheld punch.

Stampin up

Step 4: Once you’ve punched through all the layers, position your pad inside your cover then insert the ring (I can’t remember what it’s called, it’s like a binder ring and you get it at dollar stores or office supply stores).  Tie ribbon around it and you’re done (I used white taffeta ribbon and dyed it with my brayer and Riding Hood Red ink pad, another small piece of white taffeta and a piece of pink tafetta ribbon). Attach to your key chain, along with one of those little pens you can also buy and attach to a key chain (not shown here).  You’re done! I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial.

Aug

5

Stampin’ Up! Tutorial Tuesday: Brayered and Sponged Sunset Background

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Tutorial Tuesday, Tutorials | 33 Comments 

When I was blog browsing a few weeks ago, I came across THIS card on a blog called Paper in the Works.  I thought the effect of the sunset background was so beautiful, that I would try to re-create it using my Stampin’ Up! inks and a combination of brayering and spongeing.  One of the reasons I opted not to completely go with a brayer for all the color layers is that I’m by no means a seasoned brayering expert and I still find it challenging to achieve a subtle blending of colors (without any lines). I’ve put together a small tutorial below to show you how I did this.

Step 1: I took a piece of regular whisper white CS and covered the whole thing with More Mustard ink using my brayer.

Stampin' Up!

Step 2: punch out a circle (used a 1 1/4" circle punch) from a post-it note, and stick to your CS where you want the sun to be. Carefully brayer Pumpkin Pie classic ink over the whole thing.

Stampin' Up!

Step 3: Now take your sponge and Ruby Red ink, and dab your sponge on your ink pad, and then gently pounce it onto your CS.  I sponged the top and bottom and started working my way towards the center of the CS.  As I approached the center of the CS I sponged very lightly so that there would only be a little bit of  the Ruby Red color.

Stampin' Up!

Step 4: Take your Bravo Burgundy ink and sponge, and sponge along the top and bottom edges, bringing the ink down as much as you’d like (depends on how dark you want your sky to look).  Sponge a little along the sides as well.

Stampin' Up!

Step 5: Remove the post-it note circle. Take a solid image stamp (I used my Garden Silhouette’s - a level 2 hostess set from the Fall/Winter 2007 Catalogue - now retired), ink it up in Chocolate Chip ink, and stamp onto the background as shown.

Stampin' Up!

Step 6: Stamp a butterfly (I stamped the butterfly from the new Dreams du Jour stamp set due to be released on Aug. 11th) onto Chocolate Chip CS in Chocolate Chip ink, and cut it out.  I then folded up the wings slightly and glued only the body to the background piece.

Stampin' Up!

Step 7: Decorate the rest of your card as desired.

Stampin' Up!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I won’t be posting tomorrow, but stay tuned for my Try it Out Thursday!

Aug

4

Stampin’ Up! Makeover Monday Challenge

Filed Under Stampin' Up! MakeOver Monday Challenge | 4 Comments 

Stampin' Up!

Welcome to another Makeover Monday Challenge. I love the card I made for today’s challenge for a few reasons:

  1. It is totally out of  my stamping "comfort zone" in terms of style and colors
  2. I made it with the new Flower Power Simply Sent Card Elements Kit (which I did not really like when I first got it, but it’s been growing on me)
  3. Lastly because this card is a perfect illustration of how totally different a card can look , even when the layout stays the same, by simply changing up the stamps, accessories and colors. You can see what I mean from the picture below.  You’d never put the two together would you?

Cards magazine

My original card inspiration came once again from the July 2007 issue of CARDS magazine (as my last couple of Monday MakeOver’s have).  Using magazines for inspiration is one of my favourite things to do.  I typically keep all my card-making and scrapbooking magazines and make a point of carrying a few of them around with me wherever I go so that if I get stuck in a line, or waiting at an appointment I have something to look at.  It’s one of the things that I feel helps me keep my creative juices flowing!

Now it’s your turn! Take a totally or at least mostly non-Stampin’ Up! card, 3D item or scrapbook page, and make it over using all Stampin’ Up! product.  Post it to your blog, Splitcoaststampers, or other photo gallery and link to this post.  Once you’ve done that, post a comment in the comments section of this post with a link to your card.  You can makeover as many projects as you would like. Each project gets you one entry into my monthly draw.  The winner is drawn the first Monday of the following month, and receives an item valued at $14.95 or less (CAN) from the current Stampin’ Up! catalogue.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my Tutorial Tuesday feature where I’ll be showing you how to create a beautiful sunset-type background using brayering and spongeing.

Aug

3

And the winners of the BIG Blog Give-Away are……….

Filed Under Blog Give-Away | 7 Comments 

Before I announce the winners of my blog give-away I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.  I have been absolutely blown away by the response to this contest - 882 comments! Wow!  As I read through the comments my heart was really touched - I laughed, I cried, and I really felt your appreciation for what I do, and in turn I felt a tremendous amount of gratitude that I have been blessed with such wonderful blog readers. I wished that I could gift the prize to each and every one of you!  I was so thankful that the ultimate decision as to who the winners were was www.random.org. I divided up the entries into Stamp Class by Email and Class Planner, then used the random integer generator to choose the winners in each category.

Since the response to this contest was so tremendous, I decided to even out the odds a little in everyone’s favor and chose NOT ONE, BUT TWO WINNERS IN EACH CATEGORY!

and the winners are……..

# 65 Brenda Mantz, from Charlotte NC, USA - Class Planner for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators

#331 Eileen McClean -  St. Albert, Ireland, - Class Planner for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators

#136 Erica Meier, Abbotsford, BC - Stamp Class by Email

#613 Crisanne Durrant - Price, Utah, USA - Stamp Class by Email

Congratulations to you all!  To claim your prize, please email me at andrea@sunnystampin.com with your name, full mailing address and the email address to which you’d like your online classes sent to.  

Aug

2

Stampin’ Up! Stamp Simply Saturday

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Stamp Simply Saturday | 3 Comments 

Stampin' Up!
Welcome to the first Stampin’ Up! Stamp Simply Saturday for August!  Can you tell I’ve been on a bit of a pink roll these last couple of weeks?  I am absolutely IN LOVE with the new Pink Piroutte In Color due to be released Aug. 11th. I think this is going to become one of my favourite colors this year - it’s so soft and pretty.

The purpose of Stamp Simply Saturday is to showcase simple yet beautiful cards that take 10-15 minutes or less to make.  One of the reason’s I love Stamp Simply Saturday is because I find that there is definately a misconception that simple = boring.  I love being able to show my customers how to make cards that will having them say "wow, I love this card and I  can’t believe how easy that was!".

Today’s card uses the following supplies:

Stamps: Bloomin’ With Love
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Bella Rose DP (due to be released in Stampin’ Up!’s new Fall/Winter 2008 catalogue).
Accessories: Pink taffeta ribbon, square rhinestone brads, new scallop edge punch.

Aug

1

Featured Stampin’ Up! Artist of the Week: Tara Travis

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Featured Artist | 2 Comments 

Stampin' Up!

Every Friday I try to take the opportunity to introduce you to the wonderful creations of a different Stampin’ Up! demonstrator as part of my Stampin’ Up! Artist of the Week feature.  This week I’d like to introduce you to Tara Travis.

Tara says about herself: "My family lives in Saco, Maine for the last 4 years, originally from Boston. I have two beautiful daughters, Aislinn is 7 and McKenna is 3. My wonderful husband Joe also shares his sons with me - David is 20 and Kevin is 19. Outside of stamping I am a special education teacher, part time in Kennebunk, Maine.

I have been stamping for 5 1/2 years, and been a Stampin Up Demonstrator for 5 1/4 years! Once I started I was hooked and never imagined I would be doing this as long as I have. My team consists of 10 first level demonstrators and 2 second level demonstrators. My two closest friends are my upline Liz and downline Susan, truly the way SU talks about it being about relationships!!

I have been blessed to apply the skills I have learned from Stampin Up to help others in my community. Last summer, Maine Medical Center welcomed me into the Barbara Bush Children’s Hosptial to help families by teaching stamping and scrappin’ on the unit. This spring my close friend’s daughter was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, which was devastating to all of us. I organized a crop - Hugs for Hayely, and we raised over $3000 to help the family."

The card above was created and photographed by Tara.  Be sure to take some time to check out other great projects she has on her blog: A Stamping Good Time.

 How about you?  How would YOU like to be a Featured Stampin’ Up! Artist on my blog?  Click HERE for more information and to apply. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for my Stamp Simply Saturday post!

Jul

31

Stampin’ Up! Try it Out Thursday: Pretties Kit

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Try it Out Thursday, Tutorials | 21 Comments 

Stampin' Up! Pretties Kit

For today’s Try it Out Thursday, I decided to pull out my Pretties Kit and see what else I could do with it.  I’ve put together a little tutorial to show  you how to create this flower on my card using the largest flower from the Pretties Kit.  Also, notice from the picture above, how beautifully the small half back pearl from the Pretties kit fits inside one of the new buttons Stampin’ Up! is releasing in the Fall/Winter 2008 Catalogue.

Step 1:  Tap your sponge dauber onto your Riding Hood Red ink pad to pick up color, and then pounce on the flower from the Pretties Kit.  Note that there are a lot of different ways you can dye your flowers.  I chose this way because the color you get is a little less intense.  If you wanted a darker, more intense color, I would actually lay my flower onto the ink pad and then carefully press it into the ink pad using my sponge dauber.  When you do it that way though, your flower will take longer to dry.

Stampin' up!

Step 2: Make sure you repeat step 1 above on BOTH sides of the flower.

Stampin' Up!

Step 3: Fold your flower in half and staple to hold it folded.  Note: I tried mini glue dots and Snail and neither were able to stick to the flower.

Stampin' up!

Step 4: Punch out a 3/4" circle from Pink Pirouette CS, fold in half (actually not quite half - you want the larger side to be on the outside of the flower).  Attach to the flower using mini glue dots. Note: I actually placed my mini glue dots on top of the staple as I found that they stuck to the staple, but not the actual flower.

Stampin' Up! Pretties Kit

Attach your flower to the card by the CS circle, again using mini glue dots.  Decorate your card as desired. 

To create my leaves:  I took a strip of Bella Rose DP, scored it, crimped it so that the crimps were perpendicular to the score line, then punched them out using the small oval punch.  I used my left over piece of crimped paper to cut my stem.

Supplies:

Stamps: Heard from the Heart
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Paper: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Bella Rose DP
Accessories: Button Bouquet, Pretties Kit, mini glue dots, paper crimper, paper trimmer with scoring blade, small oval punch, white taffeta ribbon, sponge dauber, scallop edge punch

Jul

30

Whatever Wednesday: Playing with my Dreams du Jour stamp set & Bella Rose DP

Filed Under Stampin' Up! Whatever Wednesday | 9 Comments 

Stampin' up!

Whatever Wednesday is the day of the week I share with you whatever I happen to be working on.  Although I do strive to post most every Wednesday, you will find that there are Wednesday’s where I won’t post because I haven’t had the time to work on anything!

For today’s post, I wanted to share with you a quick and easy card using my Dreams du Jour stamp set and Bella Rose Designer Paper.  Both of these products are due to be released on August 11th in Stampin’ Up!’s new Fall/Winter 2008 Collection!  I have to tell you, I absolutely LOVE both of these products, which I’m sure you can tell as I’ve used them an awful lot in the last few weeks. 

Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Ink: Black Staz On, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Textured Chocolate Chip CS, Whisper White, Chocolate chip & Riding Hood Red CS (non-textured), Bella Rose DP,
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, 1/16" handheld punch, wide chocolate grosgrain ribbon, vintage brads, stampin’ sponge.

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  • Welcome to my Blog!




    Andrea Walford
    Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator
    Cambridge, ON, Canada
    (519) 620-8810

    Through Stampin' Up! I'm living my passion to teach, to share, & to inspire others towards creativity. I hope you enjoy all the artwork and inspiration that I've put here. You can read more about me HERE.

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  • The Fine Print

    All content, including designs, concepts, text, and photographs are COPYRIGHT ©2008 Andrea Walford. My artwork is shared for your personal inspiration and enjoyment, and may not be copied for submission to contests, magazines, etc.

    You are welcome to CASE any FREE artwork I share for your personal use (such as personal projects, swaps and your classes).

    Please do not CASE the projects that I offer as part of my Class Planning Service for Stampin' Up! Demos. The class planners are part of a PAID service. The project designs & templates are original, and were custom-designed for the exclusive use of those Demonstrators that have purchased the planners. These designs and templates are protected by Intellectual Property Laws. You are welcome to use them as inspiration for your own designs, as long as they have been sufficiently modified, and a link to the original class is provided. Thank you for respecting these limitations.