Constantly Stamping

Funky Felt Build-a-Flower Die Cut Birthday Card

It drives me crazy to see some of the most incredibly fabulous products on the market but not be able to incorporate them into my Stampin' Up! business. Felt embellishments are hot, hot, hot right now and although we do carry the fabulous Felt Fusion kit, sometimes I just get an idea into my head and I need to find a way to express myself and still remain true to my Stampin' Up product line. That is exactly what happened with this project.

In the past I have tried to use my Big Shot to cut felt flowers, but I just couldn't find a felt that was stiff enough to hold up to what I wanted to do. So this morning I was kicking the idea around again and I wondered what would happen if I were to use my Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive to glue a piece of black felt to a sheet of Basic Black CS. I allowed the glue to dry for about 30 minutes and then I pulled out my Build-a-Flower die and started cutting. OMG...I could feel my heart just about pop out of my chest with excitement...it worked!

Adhering the cut flowers to the card stock was easy. I used my Dotto adhesive and starting arranging the flowers to a piece of pre-cut Whisper White CS. By using repositionable adhesive, I was able to work with my design until I found just the right look. When I was finished, I just used my scissors to trim away the excess. I wanted just a little more bling, so I added some self-adhesive gems by Darice to give the card even more pop! By adding some Melon Mombo Dotted Ribbon and mounting everything on some Melon Mombo CS I was able to achieve the exact look that I was going for. The card needed just a little finishing touch, so I added some white rub-ons from the Chit Chat rub-on collection in the lower left corner to balance everything out.

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but this card is just loaded with texture and dimension. You just can't help want to touch the felt flowers. Sure do hope you like this one 'cause I sure do!

Have a great day!

What is a Razzleberry?

I know that most of you probably don't care, but I just had to know if there is such a thing as a razzleberry...so I googled it and this is what I found:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Razzleberry is a pie made with raspberries and blackberries. It is very popular and is the most common (and sometimes the only) flavor of pie made without added sugar.^{[citation needed]}

Reference is made to razzleberry (dressing) in the 1962 Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol.

Big Shot Daisy Water Lilly Tutorial - Parts 1 & 2

I have received several emails asking me how to make the water lilly from last week, so here you go. It is longer than ten minutes, so I had to split it into two different videos. Hope this helps!

Mini 5th Avenue Floral?

When I first looked at the new "Lovely Flowers Bundle" Level 3 hostess set I thought..."that sure does look a lot like the Fifth Avenue Floral set, only much smaller". I just love that set...and when I paired it with the Level 2 hostess set "Wings of Friendship", I was just thrilled with the results. So here is my entry for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge by Karen Giron. Karen almost always has a sketch challenge that I can easily wrap my creativity around and this week was no exception.

In order to achieve the look I wanted, I strayed away a little from my SU roots and pulled out my Brilliance Graphite Ink and Copic Markers. I did try several other mediums, but none of them really seemed to work for me. I used the masking technique on this card and then carefully colored it for a really vivid burst of color. All that bold color needed something more substantial to ground it, so while I was "cheating", I pulled out some gingham ribbon that I purchased from JoAnns (Bobbin Ribbon) that was a little wider than my SU ribbon. I added some black pearls to add balance. I absolutely love this color combo and this card really makes me smile. Hope you like it!

Copic Markers: R27 Cadmium Red, R29 Lipstick Red, YR04 Chrome Orange,YR09 Chinese Orange, Y15 Cadmium Yellow, Y17 Golden Yellow.

Super Easy Rich Razzleberry (Blackberry) Cobbler Recipe

You know blackberries are on my mind these days so I thought I would share with you my super easy recipe for delicious blackberry cobbler. Yes...those blackberries remind me of the beautiful Rich Razzleberry CS in the new catty! Which raises the question...is there such a thing as a Razzleberry? Hmmm :)

Easy & Delicious Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

1/4 Cup Butter or Margerine (1/2 stick)
9"x9" Glass Baking Dish

Put butter in baking dish and preheat oven and dish to 350 degrees F.

While dish/oven is heating mix the following ingredients in bowl.

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Self-rising Flour
3/4 Cup Milk

2-3 Cups Fresh Blackberries

Mix sugar, flour and milk by hand until most of the lumps are gone.
Remove hot dish from oven and pour batter into hot dish. Evenly spread 2-3 Cups of fresh blackberries on top. Sprinkle top with 1/4 Cup sugar. Return dish to oven.
Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Remove from oven and serve warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream (optional).
Yum, Yum!

Deal of the Week - Week #2

Don't miss your chance to get this incredible Big Shot Doctor's Bag this week at 30% off the regular price. This bag is awesome and you don't even need to have the Big Shot to love it! It's definitely been on my wish list for a while now. This deal won't last, so go to my website today and order your bag today!

Happy Independence Day

Wow...is it July already? Blackberry picking season arrived a littler sooner this year and I have been a little overwhelmed. We have a very large blackberry patch in our yard (the thornless variety) and I usually spend most of July picking berries and making cobblers, jams, and jellies...not to mention working on my swaps for SU Convention coming up in early August.

I probably won't be posting as frequently this month, but when I do I'll try to make it worth the wait. You don't want to miss the upcoming Catty Cruise. I am honored to be participating in this fun and fabulous event later this month. There are some pretty fabulous stampers/paper crafters on our tour, so you don't want to miss it...oh, and if you live in the Mt. Juliet/Nashville area and want to stop by and pick fresh blackberries, send me an email. We are currently scheduling dates for u-pick customers.

New 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog Goes Live Today!

I am so excited. Please be patient with me today as I update several sidebar items on my blog. I hate all this coding stuff...so please pardon the dust. I should have everything up and running properly by this evening!

Water Lilly from Daisy Die

The other day I saw a tutorial in Creative Paper magazine on how to make floating lotus flowers from cardstock. They were beautiful. When I looked at the pattern it struck me that the petal shapes were very similar to my Sizzix Daisy Die. Of course I would much rather use a die to cut my shapes than do everything by hand, so I set out to see how close I could get to their design. I think my flowers looks a little more like a cross between a zinnia and a water lilly, but it still quite stunning.

The process was a little time consuming and I doubt that I will be making large quantities of these beauties...however, if you want a special embellishment for a gift, this just may be the perfect choice. This flower is fairly big, so you probably wouldn't want to make it for a card or a scrapbook page. The finished flower is about 1" tall and 3" wide.

For this project I used a 4" metal tin that originally contained processed cheese spread. It turned out to be just the right size. I covered the lower portion of the tin with the new Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (#115675). I covered the edge of the lid with the new 1/2" Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (#115613). For the flower I used Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, and Barely Banana card stock. I used Old Olive CS for the lilly pad. I stamped "Thanks So Much" from the new Level 3 Hostess Set Kind & Caring Thoughts in Rich Razzleberry ink on Pale Plum CS.

You can order everything you need for the flower beginning with the reveal of the new catalog tomorrow, July 1st. You definitely want to get your hands on the new catty. I think it is the most beautiful catalog Stampin' Up! has ever produced. If you don't already have a SU demonstrator and you would like to receive a new catalog, just let me know. For only $10 you will receive a new 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog along with a $10 gift certificate (redeemable only through me, Connie Collins) toward your next purchase of $30 or more.

UPDATE: You can see a video tutorial on how to make this flower here.

Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed, but Something Blue

I have had a difficult time today deciding what I like and don't like...at least when it comes to stamping...so I thought to myself "why not have it both ways". So that is exactly what I did. I put together the same card, but in two slightly different ways. Not that one is better than the other...just a little different. Both cards use the same stamped image, both use the same colors (Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze), but one card is a little more simple yet elegant and the other is a little more embellished. It reminds me of identical twin sisters who have a different hairstyle.

This 3"x6" Chocolate Chip card is embossed using SU Backgrounds I texturz plates. I used my new Level 3 hostess set (available July 1st) "Kind & Caring Thoughts" and stamped the greeting and flower image several times in Chocolate Chip ink. Then I sponged the edges with more Chocolate Chip in and layered it with more card stock.

This card is exactly the same except I didn't emboss the background and I added a layer of Chocolate Chip Dotted Swiss paper from the Bella Rose DSP collection and some brads in the lower right corner. I do think I like this one better than the first one...but it is hard to say. I guess it depends on my mood.