Constantly Stamping

Fancy "Technique" Friday Blog Hop

It's time again for our Fancy Friday Blog Hop. This month we are focusing on techniques. I am not sure my card is exactly a "technique", but we recently had some minor water damage to our home due to snow and ice, so I needed to keep this simple. Ironically, I had just finished cleaning and organizing, so it was a bit of a headache to move everything out, not to mention it has cluttered up the rest of the house. Hopefully things back to the way they should be very soon.

Foil is super hot, hot, hot in stationary and paper crafting right now and with SU! gold and silver card stock it is really easy to add this trendy and elegant look to your projects. For this card I cut 6" x 1/2" strips of Basic Black and Very Vanilla cardstock and 1/8" strips of Gold Foil cardstock. Then I just attached them to the front of a 5.5" x 4.25" card base and trimmed off the excess. (TIP: start in the center and work your way out...that way your stripes are centered.)

I stamped the monogram with the new Sophisticated Serifs Photopolymer stamp set (#137161) with StazOn Jet Black ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and then punched out with a 1-3/4" circle punch. I layered it with Basic Black and Gold Foil card stock cut with various circle dies. To hold down on the bulk and keep mailing easy, the monogram is flush with the card. The finished project is so elegant and very classy. Make a complete set to give as gifts to family and friends.

 Now, be sure to head on over to see the "fancy" techniques that Erica Cerwin and the rest of the Fancy Friday team have for you.

 

 

More Stuff from Leadership Conference

One of the best things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is the friendships you make along the way. During my year on the 2013 Artisan Design Team (aka Fancy Friday Blog Hop) I developed some of the most wonderful friendships. Five of us attended Leadership Convention in Orlando a few weeks ago. They are Jeanna (pronounced Gina) Bohanon, Connie Collins (that's me), Mercedes Weber, Erica Cerwin, and Cindy Schuster. I love these gals (and the rest of the team too!)

I made matching bracelets for the five of us (and our good friend, Monika Davis!) The bracelets say "I heart SU".

Jeanna and I were roommates and it is customary to exchange gifts with one another. Jeanna made the most beautiful magnolia pin for me from Simply Pressed Clay.

Jeanna and I both won prize patrol! Woo Hoo!

I had a blast hanging out with these awesome gals. (Monika Davis, Jeanna Bohanon, me, and Cindy Schuster. Notice the jackets...it was a little cooler than normal in Orlando.

 

 

 

Trendy Die-Cut Valentine!

Black, white, and gold are very trendy in the paper crafting world, so I thought it would be fun to use the supplies I had on hand to create this fun Valentine's Day card.

I started with a 5.5" x 4.25" Basic Black card base with a top fold and covered the front with some striped paper from the Stacked with Love DSP Stack (#137779). I tied on some Metallic Gold Baker's Twine (#132975) and tied it in the center.

To make the focal point of the card I die cut some Gold Glimmer Paper with the fourth largest heart in the Hearts Collection Framelits and then die cut the sentiment out of the center with a die from the Label Card Thinlits (#133479). I cut the sentiment again out of Whisper White cardstock and again from some Red Glimmer paper. I placed the white die cut words in the negative space of the heart and trimmed down the red heart so that it would be an exact match. I used dimensions on the top and bottom of the heart to raise it up above the twine and to hide the knot.

Finally, I punched several small hearts from gold foil cardstock using the small heart on the Owl Builder Punch and placed them randomly on the card front.

I still want to come back and tell you more about Orlando, but with Valentine's Day only a week away I wanted to get this card posted first.

 

Wood You Be Mine?

I am absolutely crazy about the new Mini Treat Bag Thinlit Die recently and I thought it would be really fun to make some fun Valentine Treat Bags. I started by using the die to create the bag out of some Kraft cardstock (#133674) and then I stamped it with the Hardwood Background Stamp.

Next, I stamped a wood slice with the greeting and heart from the "Wood You Be Mine?" photopolymer stamp set (#137134). If you want to know more about how to do this, check out this blog post. I tied on some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine and then used some glue dots to attach the wood slice. (FYI: I tried hot glue, but that didn't work very well.)

I cut three small banner pieces from the Stacked with Love DSP Paper Stack (#137779) and attached them with a mini clothespin. Finally I filled the bag with paper shreds and some candy for the perfect, sweet Valentine's Day treat.

I haven't finished sharing about Leadership Convention, but I wanted to show this project before while it is still relevant.

 

You Made My Day!

I mentioned in my last post that I just returned from Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL., so I thought I would show you the card that I made to share with a few of my friends. I didn't make a lot of them, so I wouldn't exactly call it a "swap" card, but you get the idea.

The card base was made with the new Birthday Bash Specialty Designer Series Paper (#137783) and I coordinated the colors for the greeting with it. This is a Sale-a-bration stamp set called "Best Day Ever!" and is available for a limited time for free with a $50 purchase (in the US).

I had an wonderful time in Orlando, so I thought I would quickly show you a few highlights from my trip. Several demonstrators from the UK were in attendance. I met these two incredible stampers/bloggers, Jenni Pauli and Kerstin Kreis.

This lovely lady is one of my absolutely favorite stampers/bloggers, Michelle Last.

And this awesome woman is Monica Gale. She is one of the UK's top demonstrators and it is easy to see why. Not only is she beautiful, she has the most infectious enthusiasm of anyone I have ever met in my entire life. She said that she was so excited to meet me...and I was thinking the same thing about her. I couldn't help but wonder if she had gotten me confused with someone else, LOL!

I will try to share more about my trip in the upcoming days, but after being on vacation for eight days, I have so much to catch up on here at home!

 

Home from Leadership in Orlando

I just spent the most amazing week in Orlando, FL at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference. We were able to fly down early to spend some time at Disney before the conference began. The week started out a little cooler and a lot more windy than what you would expect. I was really glad that I had my jacket, but I still ended up buying a knit scarf at Epcot to cover my ears. Seems like everyone I know has been sick lately and it will be a miracle if I can avoid coming down with something. I made this "selfie" while the guys were taking a ride on the Spaceship from Mars ride. I just didn't think it would be a good idea to toss my cookies after "investing" in a delicious lunch from Biergarten German restaurant. By the end of the week it has warmed up some...unfortunately my family had already left to come back home and didn't get to enjoy it. It was a harsh reality to come home to the rain and cold this morning. I will tell you more tomorrow...but not too early...this girl is gonna sleep late and try to catch some of those precious zzzzzzz's that I lost in Orlando.