Fun & Fancy Frame

This was such fun to create! It's a small framed piece, with the opening in the frame only 5" across by 3-1/2" high. It would make a great gift or a nice element up on a mantle for the holidays.

By 'fancy frame', I do not mean the pretty gold frame that houses this cute home decor piece. What I mean is the cool frames we can create using the circles from Verve Visual's Seasonal Circles stamp set and a circle paper punch. This technique is a great way to add a fancy accent to a frame around another circle.

I stamped the open poinsettia ring onto a distressed beige piece of the Be Good paper from Cosmo Cricket. Then, I punched a 1-3/8" circle into the center of the stamp. As you can see, the circle punch snipped about a third of each of the little flowers off. Not a big portion, but just enough to create a cool frame around a second (in this case, solid) circle of 1-1/4".

Supply List:

Stamps: Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual)

Paper: Be Good (Cosmo Cricket), Pine Cardstock (Archiver's)

Ink: Warm Green ColorBox Chalk (Clearsnap), VersaMark (Tsukineko)

Accessories: Paper Shaper Punches in 1-3/8" and 1-1/4" circles (EK Success), Gold Embossing Powder (Ranger), Gold Picture Frame (Quality Art Boise), Dimensional Foam Squares (3L)

Happy Stamping!

Stamping & Sales

Oh, have I ever been stamping! I'm in the midst of a 90-card project at work (and no, they're not all the same!) and I just got the two new November releases from Verve Visual to work with, so I've been stamping up a storm. Wish I had some photos to share, but all these projects are under wraps for now.

There are a few stamping sales I wanted to share with you:

Verses Rubber Stamps -- All Christmas images (any stamp that starts with CH) and Christmas Instant Expressions (EXP109 through EXP114) are now 20% off through November 15, 2007. Just enter HOLIDAY20 in the comments section upon check out and your total will be adjusted when it is processed.

Faerie Song Art Stamps -- The details are posted here. Single stamps are buy-one-get-one-free, UM stamp sheets are discounted, and there's a free shipping offer for purchases of over $100.

OnyxXpressions has seven new stamp sheets coming out and pre-orders are 15% off until October 31st.

Happy Stamping!

Today's The Day

Two brand new stamp sets are available for the first time today at Verve Visual: Seasonal Circles (set of 7) and Winter Wonder (set of 16). The cool part? They're a bargain at only TEN BUCKS each (and EZ-Mount foam can be had for only a dollar per set)! If you need any more convincing to check them out, the Verve Visual Gallery has about three dozen shining examples of what can be created with these sets.

If I had to choose a favorite of the two, it'd probably be Winter Wonder. I appreciate the flowers and wreaths from Seasonal Circles, but Winter Wonder has seven great sentiments that I can see myself using in conjunction with lots of other stamps. In fact, I used it today!

Supply List:
Stamps: Sentiment from Winter Wonder (Verve Visual); Snowman With Checkered Hat (Lockhart Stamp Company)
Paper: Peapod Notecard (Memory Box); Textured Cardstock in 2 shades of green (Bazzill); Gingham patterned paper (Making Memories Kids Collection); White
Ink: VersaFine Ink in Onyx Black (Tsukineko); ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Deep Green (ClearSnap)
Accessories: Sketch Markers and Glitter Pens (Copic); Dimensional Foam Squares (3M)

Happy Stamping!

Eleven Weeks & Counting

Do you know that as of today we're a mere eleven weeks from Christmas morning? Amazing how time flies, isn't it? And with Thanksgiving approaching, travel to plan, parties to attend and gifts to purchase & wrap, it really doesn't seem like enough time to get ready for it all.

I know many of us set out to create gorgeous and elaborate cards for everyone on our Christmas card list. But, by the tenth or twelfth card, assembling all the layers and tying all those ribbons is no longer fun. For this reason, I present to you a simple alternative card that's a special combination of elegant style and easy replication. Not everyone on your list has to receive the same card, you know. Perhaps the elaborate cards are reserved for family members and close friends that really appreciate all the hard work that goes into creating them. This could be the card for the second or third tier of recipients on your list.

This card has some definite pluses:
* Only one color of ink. No extra stamp cleaning or ink mixup.
* No time-consuming, bulky or expensive embellishments.
* A minimum of cutting. One easy layer.
* No extra postage.
* No messy glitter or embossing powder.
* No noisy steps, so you can enjoy creating these in front of the TV with the family. Better yet, get them involved! It's an easy project.
* Flexibility. Experiment with using a color other than dark blue. Try using purple ink & cardstock for the friend who's a purple nut!

Supply List:
Stamps: Winter Wonder (Verve Visual)
Paper: Pearlized White Cardstock (Paper Accents), Not Quite Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Not Quite Navy (Stampin! Up)
Accessories: Not Quite Navy Stampin' Write Marker and Large Stipple Brush (Stampin' Up!)

I'm a big fan of this new Winter Wonder set from Verve Visual. It includes 9 snowflakes (three designs each in three different sizes) and nine sentiments. It's scheduled to be unveiled tomorrow along with its sister set, Seasonal Circles. That one has some very pretty wreaths and poinsettia-like flowers.

Happy Stamping!

Bright Fall Colors

One thing I got to see a lot of while traveling over the last 2 weeks is the gorgeous display of fall colors. Absolutely yummy yellows, brilliant reds, and simmering hot oranges. When I look at this wreath colored in yellows and greens, the fall leaves come to mind once again.

I'm sharing this wreath because I love how it turned out. I'm surprised by the 3-d effect of the coloring (for example with the blush on the yellow fruits) and how it was achieved without using any blending solution. It was all just layering colors -- and I completed the coloring of this image and a few others during class. It's not hard to imagine this image as a Christmas wreath with just a few changes in color. Oh, the possibilities!

My plan for now is to put my Gamsol and paper stumps away for a few weeks while I continue to play and practice Karen's coloring methods. Oh, yes, and find great complementary papers to make a card that will showcase but not overpower this pretty wreath.

Happy Stamping!

Quick Trip Recap

My friend Lila and I are back from our roadtrip. Was it ever fun!!

We had been anticipating a stop to Daisy Bucket in Hermiston, Oregon, for a while. What a fabulous place! We were treated so nicely by co-owner/co-founder Cassandra. In addition to their wonderful textured papers, they just came out with a line of clear stamps this summer. They also carried quite a few other product lines. We shopped & shopped. Such fun!! There are 2 more new products on the way: a really cool ribbon and a stamp handle.

Friday night, we arrived at Apropos Paper Arts for the meet & greet with Karen Lockhart from Lockhart Stamp Company (and some shopping). Then we took 2 classes on Saturday (along with more shopping). If you ever have the opportunity to take a class or two from Karen, I would definitely recommend it. She's knowledgable, inspiring, and was kind enough to sign the rubber stamps I purchased! One highlight of the class is the wealth of coloring samples she brings with her. WOW! So much to look at and to learn from. Again, don't miss it.

Speaking of Apropos, proprietress Kathy was very nice. We enjoyed the store and our purchases included stamps, papers, and accessories.

While in Spokane, we stopped at Spokane Art Supply -- the location on Monroe. They had such a wonderful assortment of art products, including Copic markers and some rubber stamps. One staff member was especially helpful with Lila's airbrush system. It was a very nice visit!

North of SAS on Monroe is a stamp store called A Stamp 4 All which we quite enjoyed. I picked up some Great Impressions stamps, a JudiKins background stamp and a neat Chablis embossing powder. It's true -- samples DO sell product!

We had a terrific time! What could be better than a stamping roadtrip with a talented, close friend? Thanks so much, Lila, for your friendship, for driving, and for inviting me on this adventure!

Happy Stamping!