NEW LOVE! Butterfly Basics bundle

The Occasions catalog is out and there is so much to love about it!

One of my favorite purchases so far is the Butterfly Basics bundle. It's a stamp set and a coordinating thinlit die set. Best thing? You have your choice of all three types of stamps: wood, clear, photopolymer! 

I have a feeling that this one is going to be VERY popular!

Here are a few cards that I made quickly - of course it helps to be "pinspired"!

This card also features one of the fresh new designs from the Best Year Ever DSP. It is one of the free choices when you spend $50 during Sale-a-Bration!

I am loving the color combination featured in this paper: Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, and Whisper White.

Because the Butterfly Basics set is a collage set, it easily lends itself to fast, easy cards. It took my symmetrica- self a while to get used to "collage stamping" over the years. But now I have come to appreciate the "willy nilly "style with no apparent rhyme or reason!

Don't you just love the butterfly?

I will share a fantastic tip that I recently learned with you in just a moment.... 

This third card also uses paper from the same DSP free pack. I also used the Gorgeous Grunge set,

in addition to a different butterfly thinlit that comes in the set, which matches one of the stamp images. The smaller, stamped (and embossed) butterfly also comes in the stamp set and matches our Bitty Butterfly punch. BONUS!

There is also a larger "swallowtail" thinlet that comes in the set which I have not used yet. I'm sure you will see it in future posts as I continue to play with new product!

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Now.... for my helpful hint that I learned this week by watching a video by demonstrator Deb Valder. In the video she credits one of her downline members -Jeanie Hall- with this technique.

Whoever came up with this - THANK YOU!

This is a very helpful technique for the butterfly framelits or any other intricate thinlit that has many details, like the NEW Hello You thinlits, 

the words from Wonderful Wreath, Little Letters,  Darling Doily etc. (I have the old Delicate Doily die  - which is not a metal framelit. As you can see below, there are a few small pieces remaining in the diecut but, WAY better than before!)

These tend to be a royal pain if not used with at least wax paper, because of all of the little shapes that you have to punch out after they have been cut with the Big Shot. If you have ever tried to practically gouge out card stock from inside one of the metal framelits, then you know what I'm talking about!

This technique solves those problems - I swear! It's one of the few techniques that I had to try right away - immediately after watching the video!

It involves dryer sheets.

Yes. You read that correctly. Another household item that you need to purchase for your hobby rather than it's originally intended purpose! (Non-housekeepers UNITE!)

You'll want to pick up the cheapest you can find - unscented if the scent bothers you-  just for use in your stamp area.

• Take 4 sheets, stack them on top of one another, then fold them in half.

• Run your paper with the framelit as you normally would through your Big Shot. (I prefer using the magnetic platform with all metal framelits or thinlits.) Make your "sandwich" with cutting pads as usual.

• The card stock is usually stuck inside the framelit at this point. This is where you would frustratingly get out your paper piercer and use the little holes in the framelit to push out your card stock and/or poke out all remaining small detail pieces.

However, you no longer have to do that if you follow my tip! Yaaaay!

• Run your framelit, with the card stock still stuck inside, through the Big Shot AGAIN - this time, place it facedown on the folded dryer sheet stack (including included in your "sandwich")

• Remove the framelit and SMILE, noticing that your framelit is completely free small paper bits!

• Carefully peel off the originally intended die cut. ALL SMALL PIECES SHOULD STICK TO THE DRYER SHEETS STACK!

•Reuse the dryer sheet again and again, unfolding and refolding each time so you are using another layer.

You're welcome!

***(edited 1/10)

And I need to say, THANK YOU to my dear friend Denise! This morning she sent me a video by Patty Bennett demonstrating what she does with these intricate thinlits....

platform, cutting pad, one dryer sheet, card stock, waxed paper, cutting mat.

By using only one dryer sheet, she reduces the tension when the framelit passed through the Big Shot - therefore eliminating the little dots that you see on mine! It wasn't as tight as a squeeze! Using the waxed paper still allows you to have a paper-bit free framelit.

Also, she was mass- producing butterflies, and she was able to get six out of one half sheet of card stock. Here is the link to her video:

http://youtu.be/d3Dzy6zILuI

Enjoy making butterflies! They are beautiful!

Rosettes for Gift Tags

This year I made coupons and put them with all of the catalogs that I handed out in June. They are either for a discount or "get something free" when you purchase a particular item.

June was the first month of the new catalog, therefore it is the first coupon. Last month focused on the new In Colors - which we used at stamp club so everyone could see them up close! Several of my stamp club members and other customers took advantage of the FREE gift when they purchased the new color kit. They each received a pack of the Cut and Ready Card Bases in the new In Colors! (They are cut to card size and already scored for you, to make life easier!)

I decided that each month I would package the free gift in a fun way, since I am starting to stamp more and more each day. (☺️)

For June gifts, I decided to make tags. I used: Layered Labels stamp set (retired), Apothecary Accents framelits,

 ribbon in the new colors Lost Lagoon or Blackberry Bliss, and gold baker's twine.

The finishing touch would be a rosette since I haven't made those in a while.

And when I say "in a while", I'm not kidding... Things did not go well in the beginning!

I wanted to use the new Moonlight Designer Series Paper stack, since it featured several of the new colors, 

and the Designer Rosette Bigz XL die for the Big Shot.

What I didn't remember was that you need two strips of paper, each 12 inches long, to make it rosette as big as I needed. The Moonlight paper stack sheets are only 6 1/2 inches, so even with two of those, it wasn't long enough.

Every time I tried to make one it tore!

YUK!

Finally, I broke down and decided to watch tutorial videos from YouTube. The one that helped me the most was by Sarah Nabor. Here's the link to her video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxvZbqit6n0&list=FLjJpVCHUKXJ3IIU40qENQKQ

Her helpful hint was putting some hot glue on one end of your accordion folded piece...

Press it down for a few minutes on your silicone craft mat (adhesives don't stick to it!) ...

When the glue is dry, the piece starts to fan out on only one side, already starting to form your rosette.

(Think book binding!)

When you do that to the second piece and then join them together with your sticky strip, it makes a beautiful, EASY, rosette that I don't have to struggle with trying to push the center down!

Yaaaa! No more stress! Now it is fun again!

Thank you, Sarah Nabor! 

Now I was ready to finish the tag.

I had some 2 1/2 circles that I had already punched out of card stock. I stuck it down to a Jumbo Sticky Round  (picture sticky strip in a circle rather than tape!)

I placed the rosette onto the Jumbo Sticky Round, adhering it into place.

Next, I added some hot glue to the middle of the rosette and added the tag that I had created.

I went on to create several more... Easy as pie!

You can see the one on the bottom right that I did the other day trying to use the shorter paper... I don't know how, but this one worked and so did the others that I made for Tuesday club, but the new ones are way nicer and I'm much happier with them!

My apologies go to anyone who already received one that is not as nice as these new ones! 

But after all, I have to put it in perspective - it is just a tag! 

Oh well, they still looked nice! There were just a few spots on the back of those that I used washy tape for a tore.

So, don't look at the back! Ha ha!

Now I know a trick, and it will be smooth  rosette sailing from now on!

I hope this helps you too!

Of course, if you do not own the Big Shot or the die, you can still make rosettes! You simply need teo strips of 2 x 12" paper, and use your paper cutter or Simply Scored tool to make even scores on both (you choose the width.)

If you are interested in purchasing any of these items please visit my website and click "shop" in the upper right-hand corner!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

And don't forget my special for July - FREE glimmer paper with the purchase of any framelits from page 231!

Organizing Framelits

I have been wanting to change the way I organize my framelits for the Big Shot. 

All framelits come in a sturdy opaque envelope. They are attached to an inner piece of cardboard with a strip of really sticky double-sided adhesive. Half the time I feel like I'm going to bend my framelits when I try to pull them off! The other half of the time I get so frustrated because if I don't put them back on the adhesive strip, they end up falling right off and it's hard to put them all back in their envelope.

Here is what I mean:

See how they're floating around in there? Imagine a set with lots of little pieces!

I always spend a lot of time on Pinterest late at night. (If you know the follow me on Pinterest already know this) -ha ha!

I pinned a couple of different ideas for Framelit storage.

Some stampers are using a 6 x 6 or 8 x 8 photo album to store and organize their framelit collection. They are putting a set of framelits in each page sleeve.

 I have a box that I keep them in and I'm happy with that system. The box is from Creative Memories, and it was a "photo keeper". (I don't know if that is the official name, but it is wide enough to accommodate my larger size envelopes. - you know like the envelope liner framlits?)

(I keep my embossing folders in one of the storage boxes from Stampin' Up! -Perfect!)

Whether you put your framelits in an album or keep them in a container like I do, the element that all the posts seem to have in common is.... magnets.

I did a video when we first started to carry the framelits. I showed a couple of different ways how to use the heart framelits, and also how I stored them on a magnet sheet:

http://youtu.be/jh9BqZRZ0Ec

Problem is.... Stampin' Up! no longer sells the magnet sheets!

What to do...  what to do?

Who ever came up with this idea was a genius!

Yet another trip to Home Depot in order to purchase something not for its original use! 

(By the way, now that there is going to be a mad rush on this product, look for it in the plumbing, cooling and heating section of the store!)

These came in a three pack, 8" x 15", for only $4.50! I bought two, but I'm sure as my framelit collection grows (have you seen the new catalog?) I will be making more trips to Home Depot!

I cut it to the size of most of my framelits (6" x 5 3/4").

(I've had these goodies in my stamp room for years: a rotary cutter and a large cutting mat! I'm sure you could just as easily use scissors ,or even your paper cutter on this thin magnet sheet.)

No more messy framelits!

And because I had at least a 2" strip left over from what I cut, I put those to use as well!  No waste here! They were perfect for my smaller framelits!

I still have some small strips left over. I may even try this idea with framelits that match a particular stamp set:

Genius! (Tip was shared by Australian demonstrator Leonie Schroeder, on her website stamp-a-latte.com)

Try these tips! They will make your stamp room more organized and your life thatmuch easier!

Watercolor notecards

In every mini catalog Stampin' Up! comes out with at least one collection that I absolutely love. For the current Occasions mini catalog it is the watercolor collection: The Happy Watercolor stamp set, the Watercolor Wonder Notecards, the Designer Series Paper, the washi tape, the Fancy Foil vellum....

You have already seen a couple cards that I have made with the Happy Watercolor stamp set. Now let me show you a few that I have made with the Designer Notecard and Envelope set.

I surprised myself when I bought these. You see, I usually "boycott" notecards (and by boycott, I mean avoid) .... I don't know why. Are they hard to send through the mail or something? Do I feel that you have to hand them to people instead of mail them? Is it just because they are smaller in size? I don't know! How discriminatory!

It's kind of like how I don't buy anything that is French - like, if we have a stamp set that has the Eiffel Tower or French words - I usually won't buy it. I don't have anything against the French. But I am a Spanish teacher for goodness sake! So as  stylish as it may be, it's not happening.  (I have a similar hang up with realistic looking Mary and Joseph stamps at Christmas time. How do you know that's what they looked like?)

Silly, I know.

But, this time I ventured outside of "my box" and bought the notecards! ...And they didn't disappoint!

Not only were they pretty prints on watercolor paper, you get 20 cards and envelopes in the pack. That's a lot! There are five different designs and you get four  of each of the designs!

So, I set out yesterday to use them. I broke the pack open and again it crossed my mind - can you send these, or do you have to hand them to someone? 

The answer is yes you can mail them! Again, no idea why I had that idea in my head in the first place! 

So, anyway, yesterday I pulled them out  (not being able to mail them in mind) and I set out making a set of cards to hand someone - namely my husband. "Love notes" if you will, that I could periodically  leave on the table for him in the morning before he goes to work. He really does so much for us, and it is nice to be  thanked with a card. I make cards for everyone else - why not give him a card for no other reason than to let him know that I am thinking about him? Shame on me for not doing this more often all along.

So here are the four cards that I came up with:

One was inspired by our Stampin' Success magazine. Others are combinations of things that I have seenby  other demonstrators. I did not use the fifth design of the package (the rose).  I already had one card with flowers on it and that was pushing it! These cards are being given to a man, after all!

I had a particular method in mind when I made that flower card, though - using the Petite Petals punch in the center of the watercolor flowers of the designer series paper. 

It was a good tip shared on Pinterest. Just use that flowered paper and punch out the center of the flowers to get the more saturated color, but yet still get that watercolor look.

I also used the envelope liner framelits. Silly me! Because I don't usually make notecards (or those smaller 3 x 3 gift cards) I forget that they are included in that framlit set!

There they are! Same place as always!

I rarely cut out the whole envelope liners though. I save paper by only cutting out really what you can see when you open the envelope - the flap and a little bit past the envelope crease. 

There are so many things that I bet you can come up with! I know that in the future when I need a quick card I will have these on hand to finish. In fact, I have so many ideas already, I may just go ahead and make up bunch!

Try these for yourself and you'll see what I mean!

You'll find the Watercolor Wonder Designer note card set on page 22 three occasions Mini catalog.

Browse the mini catalog and more when you visit my website and click on "shop" in the upper right-hand corner:

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

Don't forget that when you spend $50 (until the end of March) you can choose something for free from the Sale-a-bration mini catalog!

Valentine's Day cards!

With everybody out of the house tonight I knew it was the perfect time to be alone and make valentines for my guys.

With the guys, they appreciate my handmade cards, but they don't have to be over-the-top fancy. Phew!

With that in mind, I was able to crank three out in just a couple of hours.

The first one is for my husband:

I have seen variations of this in the past so I thought it was time I had made one myself.

Using the owl punch, I simply punched the bodies and put them on the branch from the "bird on a branch" punch. Using dark card stock (in this case it's Basic Gray), I was able to create a silhouette effect against the "moon".

The colors are Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray and whisper White. I added Blushing Bride "candy dots" on the greeting. I ended up hiding a mistake with the silver glimmer paper heart above the owls' heads. That came only after the harsh realization that applying glue and silver glitter with the shaky hand does not work well! 

Good thing my husband doesn't tear the card apart to see my errors!

Next, it was time to make cards for my boys. I knew that they couldn't be something real mushy, but a kind of generic, fun valentine that a mom might give it to a son. 

The first one goes to my junkfood junkie.

Appropriate, huh? Believe me, if he could unwrap and eat these for real, he would!

The "kisses" are made from silver glimmer paper using the retired Build a Blossom punch. It's the largest pedal with the ruffled edge cut off!

The three sentiments are all from Teeny Tiny Wishes. They are stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on vellum card stock and cut out using the Itty Bitty Banners framelits. The colors are: Real Red and Chocolate Chip with touches of white and silver - perfect!

The last card I made was for my oldest son. This card fits right into his vocabulary these days:

Leave it to the Yippee Skippy stamp set to have the word "freakin'" in it....

A basic Whisper White card with a layer of Basic Black underneath and Real Red ink is all it took. I used a small heart from the owl punch in the red glimmer card stock.

The neat thing on this card is that I embossed the double hearts using the heart framelits!.You can use your framelits to emboss as well as cut if you do it a certain way.

I used two hearts, one slightly larger than the other. Here is how I layered it on the Big Shot:

•Multipurpose platform, one tab flipped open

•A card-size piece of card stock acting as a shim (you might need two - you have to play with your own machine - you just want to get it tighter!)

•A clear plastic cutting pad

•A silicone pad  This is the squishy one, not the firm crease pad

•piece of card stock to be embossed

•The framelit, cutting-side up

•The second clear cutting pad

Usually, I would caution you against putting the cutting side of the framelit upwards towards your clear plastic cutting pad. But since you are using the squishy silicone mat underneath it, it absorbs the framelit into it - away from the clear pad - as it is passed through the machine, so it doesn't get stuck. It just leaves the impression (embossed) image instead! 

I flipped the card over and used a smaller heart framelit and performed the same procedure . So, I have one heart that "sinks" inward and one heart that is "puffed" outward.

Pretty cool!

Pretty simple cards.

Hope they like them!