Top Note Valentine Pouch

This was a quick little candy pouch for Valentine's Day.  I did use the new heart framelit and textured impression embossing folder, but you could do this for any occasion.  I trimmed the cardstock to fit a cellophane bag an filled it with M & Ms.    

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Stampin' Up! Weekend

I had quite a stamping weekend! A couple demonstrator friends and I went to the Chicago suburbs to a meeting Thursday night. The bonus for us was that we stayed with another demonstrator friend that we don't get to see very often. We had a great time together, got some good stamping ideas and hit the IKEA store on the way home. We got back to Champaign with enough time to turn around and go to our post-convention ImPECKable Stampers meeting. Those of us who attended convention shared our favorite moments, demonstrated some of the new things we saw at convention and did a fun make-n-take. Then on Saturday, I came home and went to a 2nd grader's birthday party. The 8 girls made purses with the birthday girl's favorite colors and got to fill it with goodies when they were done. I thanked the hostess for helping me "warm up" for next week when school starts.

Here's a peek at the birthday party purse and at my swap. For the swap I used my new stamp set, Just Believe, which I received free at convention.

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New Hostess Set Sneak Peek

This card uses two new hostess stamp sets and two returning (former In-Colors) colors. It was so much fun inking up these brand new stamps for a swap I am participating in with other demos. I used Pink Pirouette and Wild Wasabi to color directly onto the stamp. For those of you who already own those ink pads, there are now markers to match! I liked the soft look created by layering vellum paper and then stamping the words on the top layer.

Stampin' Up! gave us demonstrators the Just Because set, and I think I will be getting a lot of use out of it - I even stamped the hydrangeas on the envelope I used to mail my swaps!

Supplies: Just Because (Level 1 hostess), Occasional Quotes (Level 3 hostess) stamp sets, Pink Pirouette, vellum, Whisper White and Wild Wasabi cardstock, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi ink, Big Shot, Top Note die, crop-a-dile, organza ribbon

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Birthday Tulips

This card was inspired by a beautiful birthday card I received from Cheryl Camp. I had resisted buying the 2-step bird punch.... until I realized I could make tulips with it! Thanks Cheryl! So after my birthday, I ordered the punch and knew this would be a June stamp club project. Each tulip uses 3 wing pieces from the 2-step bird punch. The stems and leaves come from the same punch and the vase is made with the ornament punch (cut the tip off). The faux frame was created by punching two Top Note pieces and cutting the Whisper White on the dotted line.  What a great way to use these punches, huh? 

Supplies: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Certainly Celery cardstock, Top Note die, Big Shot, 2-step bird, ornament punches

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Celebrate Windshield Wiper Card

Here's a cross between this windshield wiper card and this celebrate card. Both were projects for stamp club this month, and I liked this fold so much that I decided to use it as my APEX swap (A Positive Example). My upline, Meg, hosts this event for demonstrators in all levels of her downline who meet certain qualifications. It is something I always hope to qualify for and the great thing is demos from all over participate since we have a by mail option. The projects the other stampers make are always terrific, and I am looking forward to receiving my package in the mail soon!

Supplies: Tropical Party, Celebrate Everything stamp set, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Old Olive ink, Stampin' Dimensional, Big Shot, Top Note die

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Birthday Flip Card

This Flip Card is kind of difficult to showcase in a photo, but it is a great way to create a fancy fold using your Big Shot.  My friend, Rae Anne, has a great tutorial on making this fancy fold.  I had to order the scallop circle after seeing what she did with it on my birthday card!  Don't you just "hate" it when that happens?   One of my club members called the narrow top piece a handle, which seems about right.  It is all in the way you line things up.  It's easy to create a different half cut by changing the way you run it through your machine.  Sometimes that happens even when you aren't trying too :-)  We then ran it back through the Big Shot with the new Square Lattice Impressions Embossing Folder from the Summer Mini Catalog to create the textured back side and stamped a Top Note piece to finish it off.  We used cardstock to make the cupcake paper, but colored the candle with Water Color Crayons.  The sprinkles are non-Stampin' Up! and held on with Multi Purpose Adhesive. 

Supplies:  Only Orange, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set, Black StazOn ink, Bold Brights water color crayons, blender pen, Multi Purpose Adhesive, Big Shot, Top Note die, Square Lattice impressions folder

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Tropical Celebrate Your Day

I am really happy with how this card turned out. But there was one nervous moment when I changed my mind on the greeting. Everything was finished and stuck down which meant there was one chance to get that "Celebrate" word to go through the middle with out grazing a flower. Haven't all stampers been there before - making a change to the card at the last minute causing us to have to do it the hard way?

I used the new Island Oasis Designer Series Paper and the new Tropical Party stamp set from the summer mini catalog. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot from me with this set, and stamp club members will be making this card tonight!

Supplies: Tropical Party, Celebrate Everything stamp set, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Island Oasis Designer Series Paper, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Old Olive ink, Pumpkin Pie ribbon, Horizontal Slot punch, Stampin' Dimensional, Big Shot, Top Note die

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The More the Merrier

We made this card in stamp club this month. It could be a Christmas card or just about anything else! We used the Top Note die and the Big Shot to create the blue piece. With the large oval punch, we punched an oval in the center and put a piece of clear, packing tape, sticky side up (so the sticky is coming through the hole) on the bottom. After dipping the sticky side in Dazzling Diamonds glitter, we stuck the snowmen on the back.