Great Cards by Club Stampers

I had my first stamp club night of this fall session and I had asked that the girls bring me a "beautiful" card and I would have a special gift for them. What I gave them was a little packet of 3X3 notecards using the Things I Love stamp set that we got at convention; it was the same sample we made there as well. I forget to take a picture to show you, maybe later.... anyway two of the girls brought me really gorgeous cards.....This first one was made by Lisa Harp from a past hostess stamp set. I really love how she did the butterfly. She stamped the butterfly in the blue color, cut it out, then stamped again in the pink color and cut out the wings smaller than the original image, then attached the wings with dimensionals so you can see both colors. the little flowers on the greeting are also stamped in the pink color, cut out and attached with dimensionals.

This second card is equally gorgeous and stamped by Linda Hutchison. She used little rhinestones to add bling and appeal around the stamped flower. Did you happen to notice that she also provided me with an envelope decorated as well?

I'm so lucky to have such creative stampers in my group... I can't tell you how much fun we have and even how much we learn (including me) from each other. My clubbers should be demonstrators as they are so imaginative; but like lots of you they deny having the time to do it... and just want to come and play for a night out.......lol.

I hope you enjoy the cards as much as I did.

Autumn Days

Isn't this so cool? I have been thinking about this project for a long time. We have several River Birch trees in our back yard and the bark peels off. For several weeks, well maybe a month, I have been peeling off some of the large pieces of bark that are just hanging on... you know the ones that look large enough to stamp on.
I've been looking for fun things for my stamp club and thought maybe this is the time to try the bark stamping. I found I had a nice piece that would be big enough for the pheasant in the Autumn Days stamp set.
I stamped the pheasant in Soft Suede onto the bark, then colored in the blank spots with Dusty Durango. When I tore around the edges of the bark, I discovered the bark as several layers, so then I peeled the pieces up a bit and tore them separately to give dimension to the stamped image. When I tried to use my snail on the back of the bark it just peeled off, so I used my Tombow glue to attach the bark to the black cardstock. then I cut a piece of Soft Suede cardstock to fit around the bark and stamped one of the images in the Autumn Days stamp set around the edges and attached the bark and black cardstock to that. Then I attached that to a little larger piece of Dusty Durango cardstock and then that onto the basic card base of basic black. I cut a small slit at the top of the fold and inserted the new 1/2" polka dot Dusty Durango ribbon through and tied in a knot.
I thought the card needed a sentiment, so I found the Thanks So Much sentiment from the Pocket Silhouettes and stamped onto Very Vanilla using the Dusty Durango classic ink pad. I punched it out using the word window punch and then "tried" to cut a piece of bark using the Modern Label Punch, as you can see I had trouble pulling it into the punch, but I got most of it. Actually I like that not all of it was in the punch. I used snail on the back of the word window piece to attach to the bark, then used dimensionals to attach to the card.
SO.......WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I like it so well, I'm thinking I'm going to have to find enough bark to pull off my trees for my stamp club next week. I think the ladies will have fun with it... do you???

Holiday Mini Catalog is UNVEILED

WOH, can you believe it's been a month since I've blogged???? Now I have lots of things I want to share, clear back to Convention!!!! We all had such a blast and I had such great roomies... three of us shared a room so I shared a bed with one of the other girls. It was so hot in the room on the first night (well I thought it was), so I slept outside the covers most of the night, but in the morning I got cold; I'm sure lots of you know what I'm talking about, so I reached over for the covers and my gosh, I had a really hard time getting them unstuck...... but FINALLY I had them under control and started to warm up again. Well, in the morning my roomie said I reached clear across her and was pulling the covers off of her. She said she hung on to them the best she could but decided that if I wanted them that badly, she was going to let me have them!!!! Of course that's when I got warm. We laughed about that the whole time we were at convention and I'm sure she was worried every night after that I would do it again. I don't think I did; anyway she didn't say I did.

One of the first things I want to share with you is that the new HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG is out and I'm sure most of you have received your copy by now, but if you didn't I put it at the top of my blog and you can click on the catalog to open it up. Oh my gosh, you will be so excited

about all the new fun things unveiled..... The Sweet Centers Stamp set is so much fun and the Sweet Treat Cups to use with the set is so fun. I have already made several birthday cards with the Hot Air Balloon stamp and it has been a hit!! My club is going to get to make a fun Halloween card with this set next week. Stampin' Up! is also selling the Sweet Treat Padded Envelopes to send these cards in the mail. You need to also check out the gorgeous Designer Series Papers; the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper on page 21 has several pages that are flocked (the top 2 shown on page), they are so gorgeous and feel so soft and exotic. The really cute Delightful Decorations stamp set matches the "NEW" Ornament punch. You don't need to cut them out, just punch them - Yay! Also, you can punch out the shape and put on the special rub-ons, shown on pagef 25, for a different look or saying. For those of you with Big Shots or if you don't have them yet, you will want to get one because not only is the new Christmas Tree die fun, but Stampin' Up! has partnered with BUILD A BEAR and there are dies for the bear and clothes... You can see all of these dies on pages 35 & 37. Your kids and grandkids will think you are the best if you present them with a card or scrapbook page designed with these bears; aren't they cute???? Of course the stamp sets shown on pages 34 and 36 are also really cute and fun to color. One of the BIGGEST new products is the "MY DIGITAL STUDIO" presented on pages 38 and 39. Even though these are shown in the new catalog, they won't be available for purchase until 10-1-09. The really exciting thing about this is that you can download Stampin' Up! stamps, accessories, papers, etc. to put on your scrapbook pages and cards. We watched the demonstrators at convention present this product and it's so exciting. The other really good thing is that after you purchase this product there updates available as they are presented to the rest of us in "stamps". There were a number of demonstrators sitting around me at convention that commented they have digital software for cards and scrapbooking, but they are difficult to manage and use; but they said after watching the demonstration that this product was so easy to get around in compared to what they already had. If you have any questions about this product, let me know.

Would you like to see a couple of the swap cards I made to share with others at convention? It's more fun that reading, huh?

This card is made from the KIND AND CARING THOUGHTS which is a Level 3 Hostess Set and I also used the CIRCLE CIRCUS stamp set for the background on the Rich Razzleberry cardstock. I used the Soft Suede and the Rich Razzleberry cardstock; the rich Razzleberry ink and the Rich Razzleberry 1/2" polka dot grograin ribbon. This is actually the first card I made. The ones I took to Convention, I dry embossed the Soft Suede cardstock with one of the Texture Plates and my Big Shot.

This next card was really fun to make. The stamp set is the new LOTS OF BOTS. On this card, I used the new Crushed Curry Cardstock, some 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon and some Designer Series Paper from the Razzleberry Lemonade set. I used my new Scallop Square punch and new Modern Label Punch as well as the Scallop Edge and Word Window Punches..

I have lots more to share with you so keep checking my blog ..........

Convention Specials........

I guess you've noticed I haven't been posting for a while? I'm not very good about being regular anyway, but since convention is next week I've been a little pre-occupied making swaps so I can show you lots of new fun ideas from other demonstrators all over the country using the new stamp sets, papers, accessories and ideas from the NEW CATALOG. (If you haven't received your new catalog yet, contact me!!!!)
I leave for convention on Wednesday morning 8-5-09 and come back late Saturday 8-8-09..... so, during the time I'm away, from 8-5-09 through 8-8-09, I will give you 15% off any merchandise order; BUT YOU HAVE TO EMAIL your orders because the special is from ME not Stampin' Up. The discount is before tax and shipping; which will pretty much take care of those additional charges. There is no limit on the amount of your order to achieve this discount!! Don't forget the Decor Elements catalog; it has it own special HOSTESS PRODUCTS... you can access this catalog from my website at www.janetelam.stampinup.net. The Decor Elements catalog not only has vinyl , but also has really neat stencils that you can use not only on your walls but on other products like scrapbooks, tiles, etc. If you have questions about them, please contact me.
Have fun ordering while I'm away and when I get back I will show you lots of new fun things, techniques, etc. for you to use in your own stamping projects.

Elegant Thank You

I was trying to come up with an Elegant Thank You card and remembered the "Under $10.00 Stamp - Elegant Thank You" so I actually used it for the first time.
I wanted to use some Shimmery White cardstock but was so sad to find I didn't have anymore, so instead I used the Whisper White Cardstock. I'm thinking the confetti White Cardstock might have been good too.


Anyway, I was looking for a tone-on-tone card, so I cut the paper to 4" X 4". Then using another 4 X 4 piece, I measured and used my 1 3/8" square punch to make a perfect square by pushing the punch in all the way and punching all the way around the card to make it square. Then I put the piece back in the paper cutter and cut 1/2 of the outside edge off. Next I laid the piece I just cut perfectly in the middle of my first piece and carefully turned it over. On the back side, I then used my embossing tool as you would a brassy template to make an embossed square around the edge of the card.

I took my new Elegant Thank You stamp, pressed it in White Craft Ink and stamped in the middle square of my card, then covered with White Embossing Powder and heated it until the powder was melted.

Then I cut small slits at the outside embossed edge on each side and threaded my white tafetta ribbon through and tied it in a bow on the front.

So, do you think this is too white? It's sort of hard to see the "thank you" but I've purchased notecards before that the thank you is dry embossed into the cardstock and there's no other color. I would like your opinion. If you click on the card to enlarge it, you can see the sentiment better.

I decided to also try the same thing using a bold color.... one of my new very most favorites is Rich Razzleberry.
This one is using Rich Razzleberry Textured cardstock. This is a little harder to emboss the squares as the cardstock is thicker. I used Versamark and the Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink then I poured "Clear" embossing powder over and heated it until it melted. This time when I made the slits for the ribbon, I actually used the Horizontal Slot punch. The ribbon I used is the Polka Dot Rich Razzleberry, but I used the plain side to keep it tone-on-tone; however, the middle of the knot still shows some of the polka dots ;) This card doesn't have the same elegance of the white tone-on-tone; it's more of a "FUN" thank you ;)
Have a nice Sunday!!!

Kristina Color challenge #56

There are a lot of colors in this challenge, but it's interesting how they all come together nicely. I used some retired items (DSP and Buttons), but the rest of everything is current. To make the thread in the buttons I cut a "very" thin strip of pumpkin pie cardstock and threaded it through and tied in a soft knot. The greeting is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
I stamped the apple and the orange slice from the Tart and Tangy stamp set with ruby red and pumpkin pie and punched them out using the 1 1/4" circle punch. Then I cut alternating circles of Ballet Blue and Certainly Celery with the 1 3/8" punch.

My Squirrels

OK, by now you all probably know that we have the most fun yard for watching things. Steve has done so much to encourage all kinds of wildlife to inhabit our yard and move in with us. Our pond has a REALLY large bullfrog that I've shown you.... he croaks really loud especially at night. Did I tell you that one night about a month ago, one of our neighbors came over asking if we'd lost a pet... Of course now you know we have three dogs (I'm showing them off on the side of my blog, they're part of the family dontcha know), so I'm looking around the room panicing that maybe one of the girls got out... well, the neighbor pulls out his cell phone and says, I took a picture of it, is this yours. Would you believe it was our bullfrog???? When I went over to rescue my frog, they told me they had always wondered what we had in our yard because the sound they heard sounded like a farm animal, like a sheep or a cow or something LOL. Anyway the frog is back in the pond, croaking as usual. Occassionally, he gets out on the land in the weeds by the pond and when one of the "girls" is exploring they run into each other and both run in the opposite directions. Too Funny.

Not only do we have fun with the frogs (yes plural) and fish, we have birdhouses and birdfeeders all over the yard, so we watch the sparrows raise several families each season. The really sad thing I saw early this spring was at a bird house that was originally put out for decoration. It's really tall and skinny; well, we've had several bird families this year.... about a month ago, I was outside reading and looked over and saw a sparrow (the mother or father, because there were babies) caught on a string and was struggling and hanging by one foot. I ran over to rescue him, but he was so scared seeing me coming that he actually was able to get upright and take off. The string was really long and hanging out of the nest, so I pulled it out and threw it away in the house so another bird wouldn't try to make it a part of their nest. Anyway, I was worried that it would never come back because of the shock of it all and I was right..... Steve finally took it down and emptied it out and found the whole family "expired". It was a sad day. I don't know if it's the same family or not, but it is being inhabited again, I hope they don't find string to put in it.

Are you wondering why I'm babbling on and on about our wildlife????? We also have a squirrel feeder with lots of peanuts that they keep burying everywhere!!! I watched one day not too long ago when the dogs were in the house that a squirrel had gotten really brave and was in the yard busily burying peanuts (in the shell). Well, that little thing got into one of my newly planted pots and buried a peanut in there...dirt was flying while he dug; it was really funny to watch. Last weekend you won't believe what I found..... the peanut took root and is growing in my flower pot. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it happen. I'm anxious now to see what a peanut plant looks like. The shell is still even attached at the top. LOL. That still isn't what this started out to be.

Today, one of the squirrels was in our tree in the backyard; my husband even called me at work to tell me about this.... close to the ground, the squirrel had laid down on a branch and hung his legs on both sides of the branch and apparently kept laying his head down. I guess it was really funny; he got several pictures of him on the branch resting with his head down. The funny thing is the tree is only about 10-15 feet away from where he was sitting.

So what do you think, isn't this the cutest????

So the new catalog is unveiled today for everyone. I'm really excited about all the fun new things happening this summer..... There is a weekly special through July with discounted items; what fun is that? Also, you can become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for only $85.00 from 7-1-09 through 8-15-09. I can't wait to see what all they are planning.

Have a nice Wednesday!

Hugs!