January stamp club

I am so excited about the new Occasions catalog and the free product offered this year in the Sale-a-Bration brochure! At stamp club this month I was sure to use all new product so that everyone could be as excited as me!

Remember, Sale-a-Bration is a very special time of the year for Stampin' Up!.  For each $50 subtotal of your order (you do not have to split your order up) you will earn one free choice from the mini brochure!

And this year the choices are spectacular! There are stamp sets, 2 Designer Series Paper packs, an accessory pack and all current Blendabilities are available as a free selection (one three pack per free selection)!

Example:

Here's what we made in stamp club this month:

Card #1:

A quick card, really.

We tried our hand at the "chalkboard" technique - we used the new chalkboard paper as well as a new chalk pad!  (The greeting is from the new set Big on You) Details were drawn with our white chalk marker (available in our main catalog). I will describe further this  EASY "chalkboard" technique in an upcoming post!

Also used on this card was a piece of the Best Year Ever DSP (a free selection from Sale-a-Bration), and the new, clear Itty Bitty Accents epoxy stickers - can you see one there on the heart?

I was rather boring - cutting our new washi sheets into strips so that it resembled plain, ol' washi tape! It will be a lot more fun once I get a hold of some framelits to use on the sheets of washi tape paper and cut it into shapes!

Card #2:

My prediction: the two most popular choices of free Sale-a-Bration product this year... the Lotus Blossom stamp set  and the Irresistibly Yours DSP pack.

I plan to feature the stamp set in just a few days, so I will explain and show you by pictures how this is a three-step instead of a two-step stamp set. GORGEOUS!

The Irresistibly Yours DSP doesn't look like much when you see it in the brochure... that's because it's white paper with different white embossed images. The magic of this paper is adding color - the embossed images will resist color!

For example, on this card we applied Wild Wasabi ink to the leaf piece and Pink Pirohuette ink to the shorter piece. The white vine/flower is the result of the "emboss resist" technique! (you can view my info about this technique by clicking here:http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2014/01/so-lets-get-this-party-started.html?m=1)

A touch of gold finishes it off - gold baker's twine and sequins.

Card #3:

This card was inspired by a card I had seen by Deb Valder: 

I used the new butterfly thinlit dies and also a piece of the Painted Blooms DSP.

It looks as though the butterfly is just filled in with white card stock when in fact, it's on and a window sheet, so it appears to be floating!

The butterfly is cut out, as I mentioned before, using the new butterfly thinlits.

You can visit my last post for a quick release tip of this detailed die:http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2015/01/new-love-butterfly-basics-bundle.html?m=1

A window sheet/acetate is glued behind the opening with glue dots. The butterfly is then placed back in the opening and actually glued to the window sheet- we used a two-way glue pen to do this.

Another favorite new set of mine is Painted Petals from the Occasions catalog! We used just a few stamps from that set to decorate the inside. LOVE THIS SET!

We tied a "double fork bow" to the front of the card to finish. Again, I used the help of another demonstrator's video. Here is the link that we used:  http://youtu.be/VWou4GtMD-Q 

Also note that you can make a smaller or larger "fork bow", and they each have their own video!

I can't wait to give you further details on some of these feature products! I plan on doing so in future posts.

It's easy to spend $50 with all the great  products featured in the Occasions catalog! If you order before March 31, you will be able to pick a free Sale-a-Bration item per $50 total.

You can view both of those mini catalogs here: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx

If you did not receive one in the mail at the end of December, but you would like one, please contact me, either by way of this blog or through email, and I will see that you get on!. (If you have a regular demonstrator I will ask that you contact him/her first.)

You can always order online 24/7 on my online store! http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

Click here and once you're on my web page, click "shop" in the upper right-hand corner.

Have fun!

PS: There will be no clubs held in the month of February. I would like to start new rounds of clubs in March. If interested in this monthly meeting of five ladies please contact me, either through this blog or by email! (Dandyspandy@sbcglobal.net)

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!

Another card in a box!

My mom is celebrating her 80th birthday!

I knew that I needed a very special card for this very special occasion.

Since I have been playing around with the "card in a box" I knew that one was what I was going to make for her. 

Browsing many samples online, I came across a beautiful one that I knew I had to CASE. Here is mine:

I love the colors of that Designer Series Paper - Afternoon Picnic. 

Plus, my mom loves roses, so Stipple Blossoms was the best choice of stamp set to use for her.

The colors used for stamping the flowers are: So Saffron and Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant, and Pear Pizzazz for the leaves. I "stamped off" first to get a lighter color ink on the solid, larger part of the leaf.

I also used the Bring on the Cake set for the greeting, and Papillion Potpourri.

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 I used a Sizzliits alphabet set for the numbers and cut them out with my Big Shot. The Bitty Butterfly and the Elegant Butterfly punches coordinate with images from the Papillion Potpourri set, so I didn't have to worry about cutting those out.

I used the directions found here:

http://www.serenestamper.com/2014/01/card-in-box

I followed her directions for making a 6-inch card. I do like her instructions because she also offers directions on how to make a smaller card - one that will fit in a medium (or, A-2) envelope- like I posted previously. 

I used a different design from the same Designer Series Paper pack to make the matching envelope. I used the Envelope Punchboard to do this - it's so easy! (As you can see, this picture was taken in the car because I forgot to photograph it before I delivered it!) Hahaha

The card itself is easy, but a little time consuming. My tip is that you may want to either punch your elements out or use framelits to make the process a little faster; cutting each piece is what took me a while.

I used my Tombow glue for this project. 

 It offers an incredible bond but also, because it is a liquid glue, it allowed me a little time to reposition things if need be, while it was still wet.  This would not have been possible with Sticky Strip because as we all know, once you put a piece down with that, it's there to stay!

I have stamp clubs this week and next. I am going to walk them through the basics of the "card in a box", but offer them a challenge to finish it. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Or, YOU, for that matter!

Try this fun fold and email me a picture! I can share your card on the blog for all to see and to be inspired by your creativity.

Have fun!