Stampin' Addicts New Color Blog Hop: Smoky Slate

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts New Colors Blog Hop!  I feel so lucky to be hopping with these talented ladies again.  If you are hopping in order, then you've arrived here from Cindy Elam's Hearts Delight Cards Blog and her fabulous look at Bermuda Bay.  She is one talented gal!  If this is your first stop on the hop, no worries.  The blogs are linked in a loop so you won't miss a thing. If you do get lost, head on over to Stampin' Addicts to see a complete list of participating blogs or to chat it up.

Today I get to share with you one of my new favorite colors: Smoky Slate.  A few years ago, I was sad when Stampin' Up! dropped Going Gray so I was very excited to have a new lighter gray to use.  It is the perfect neutral color to go with all the brights that are so popular right now but also with the subtles like my first card:

My first card features Smoky Slate with So Saffron, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz.  Hexagons are hot right now and the Six-Sided Sampler bundle is perfect for making fun and trendy cards.  Here I paired it with the Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder too.

On my second card, I again paired it with Crisp Cantaloupe, but this time I added another new In Color: Pistachio Pudding.  I love that not only did Stampin' Up! give us this great new color, they gave us accessories to go with it.  Here I used the new Smoky Slate Embossing powder on the elephant to give him a little shine and texture.

Now for some brighter tones. This one features the Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper which has Smoky Slate paired with Crushed Curry.  I have another card I made with this paper and Smoky Gray that I will share on Wednesday (as well as the details on this one) so come back then! 

If you are a regular on the Stampin' Addicts Hops, you know I always try to throw a 3D item into the mix.  Again, I paired it with a bright: the new Strawberry Slush.  I am in love with the new Chalk Talk stamps and framelits and here I've put the largest tag on a gift bag and then put that inside a box.  Notice the new Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon?  It's very yummy and the perfect accent for so many projects.  I will share the details of this project on Friday this week.

I hope I've convinced you to add some Smoky Slate to your Stampin' Up! color arsenal.  Come back on Wednesday and Friday to learn more about some of these projects and to see the one that didn't make the hop.  Next stop is Sara's Lily's Ink Pad to see her wonderful creations with Soft Sky. 

Convention Display Boards

 As promised, I have some pictures of display boards to show you today, but before we get to that, I will share another one of my swaps:

Colors: Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black and Whisper White.  Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners and Layered Labels. Big Shot: Apothecary Accents &  Bitty Banners Framelits.  Accessories: Rhinestone Jewels.

This is another card that was offered at my Customer Appreciation Event in June.  Only, then, I did it in Primrose Petal instead of Wisteria Wonder.  The idea from the card came from Allison Ohran at alliohran.blogspot.com.  I love her work and when I saw her version, I knew my customers would love it too.  I modified it by simplifying it and changing the layers up a bit and using a different greeting on it.

Now on to the Display Boards.  At convention, they put up dozens of these boards and they feature creations from demonstrators all over the country.  There are some really talented demonstrators out there for sure!  Today, I will share four boards and my two favorite samples from those boards:

Aren't there some fun ideas on these?  I love the bed.  So creative!  If anyone knows who created it, please share.  I would love to know.

Back from Convention!

Sorry I took an extended vacation the past few weeks.  This summer has been CRAZY.  We've had company or been traveling or had something major going on every week.  And while that has made for some really fun times, it also meant that I just didn't have time to sit down and write my blog posts.  I have so many projects to share so that was NOT the issue.  I just didn't have time to actually take the pictures and post them.  I'll be back to my regular schedule this week.  I promise.

Last week's craziness involved Stampin' Up! Convention.  For me that doesn't mean traveling, because I'm lucky enough that the convention center is just 17 miles from my house.  But it is one of my favorite weeks of the year because I get to spend it with my Stampin' Addict Sistahs and I get to meet so many of my "virtual" friends IRL.

I came away from convention with so many idea for my business.  That's one of the reasons I make time to go.  Some of the things I plan to do is offer more classes besides just buffets, more kits and more videos here on my blog.  So watch for more details in the coming weeks.  I'll also be sharing pictures from convention and tidbits of news in the coming week.

One of my favorite parts of convention is the swapping.  This year, I didn't join quite as many swaps as I have in the past, but I still have plenty to show you.  So today,  I'm showing you a card I did at my All-You-Can-Stamp buffet and used as a swap (see how I multipurpose like that):

Colors: Old Olive, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie.  Stamps: Worlds Greatest and Family Reunion. Big Shot: Labels Collection and Bitty Banners Framelit Collection. Accessories: Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper and Mini Brads.

I originally offered this as a Father's Day card, but my Dad's birthday is this Friday and it will be a great card to take to him from the boys. (Yep, you read that right, I'm taking it to him in California so another trip this week. I told you the summer crazies just keep going around here).  The "Worlds Greatest" is a new single image stamp.  I just love it with the Family Reunion Stamp set.

I also want to share some pictures from Convention. Today I'll share pictures from the Main Stage:

Shelli Gardner is the cofounder and CEO of Stampin' Up!  She is an amazing woman.  Here she is opening convention.  This year's theme was i am . . .

Jason Dorsey was the keynote speaker.  He taught us about connecting with Gen Y and he was so funny.  This Gen Xer learned a lot. Like maybe it's time for a smart phone. . . .

Isn't that bag adorable?  This is Shannon West and Brian Pilling.  Shannon is dressed like a witch and Brian is her assistant with the cat ears on.  Meow.

Here is Shelli and her daughter Sara talking to the great Richtar about where next year's Grand Vacation will be. Must insert more stamps.

Carry Cudney plays the bagpipes.  Who knew?

Watch for more pictures (including some fun projects) over the next couple of weeks.  And I hope it makes you want to join me next year for convention: July 18-20 right here in Salt Lake City!

Two By Two

It's late, but it's still Friday everywhere in the USA so this still counts for today's post.  We have company in town again so I didn't get to it first thing this morning and then I started puttering around my stamp room and just forgot.  But here is the card I promised to share.  This picture is not the best.  But I waited until too late to take it and there wasn't a lot of natural light left.

Colors: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand, and Pretty in Pink.  Stamp: Two by Two.  Big Shot: 3-1/2" Circle, Apothecary Accent Framelit. Accessories: Many Marvelous Markers, Paper Piercing Pack, Brads.

Two by Two is a single stamp image that is new to the catalog this year.  I don't tend to buy a lot of the single sets because I love the idea of images that coordinate together. But I love this image.  It's just so sweet and perfect for a baby card.  And it makes me think of the Noah song we used to sing at Girls' Camp when I was younger.  Maybe you know it?  "It rained and rained for 40 daisies, daisies.  Rained and Rained for 40 daisies, daisies.  Drove those animals almost crazy, crazy. Children of the Lord."  I probably could have found a You Tube video of it so it could be stuck in your head too, but I decided to spare you just this once.

Monday, I'll be sharing a peak a new promotional stamp set that is only available during the month of July.  You won't want to miss out on this fun promotion!

Flowering Flourishes

There are so many fun, new sets in the 2012-2013 Catalog.  I tried to feature several of them at my last stampin' buffet.  This is one of them:

Colors: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petal, Very Vanilla.  Stamps: Flowering Flourishes, Perfectly Penned.  Punches: Itty Bitty Punch Pack and Boho Blossom.  Accessories: Pearl Jewels, Primrose Petal Stitched Satin Ribbon.

This set is called Flowering Flourishes.  I love flourishes of any kind.  They make great back ground images or focal point images.  Here I used the largest of the three flourishes that come in the set as the focal point.  To give it some dimension, I added punched and layered flowers to the spot on the stamp that already had flowers.

This card also features two new In Colors, Primrose Petal and Summer Starfruit, with Soft Suede. Remember back with Soft Suede was a new In Color and it was the most despised of the colors that year?  I just cannot get enough of it now.  And I love how it lends an vintage look with the new In Colors.

Come back on Friday for a look at another new stamp: Two by Two.

Moving Forward Frog and Blimp Cards

As promised, today I'm sharing the details on my last two cards from the Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Blog Hop.  BTW, it's not to late to see all the projects from the Blog Hop.  You can start right here because all the blogs are still deeplinked together.

The first, the frog card:

Colors: Gumball Green, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White.  Stamps: Moving Forward and Pursuit of Happiness.  Big Shot: Designer Frames Folders.  Accessories: Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon.

I just wanted to make a simple 4-1/4" square card featuring this frog to show off the smaller images in this stamp set.  I love the Pursuit of Happiness stamp set.  The sayings in it are just good for my heart.  I picked this saying because it has the word "mainspring" in it (which I know has little to do with jumping per say, but in my head, that is where I went).  I used the rectangular frame from the Designer Frames Folders and cut it out to make the frame for the greeting and tucked a flag of ribbon behind it.  I also cut the frog out and popped it up with a dimensional to give the card some depth.  (Have I mentioned lately how much I love dimensionals?  I simply cannot get enough of them.  I have to order them at least once a month just because I keep running out.)

Color: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, and Pool Party.  Stamps: Moving Forward.  Big Shot: Finishing Touches Edgelits.  Punch: Cupcake Builder Punch.  Accessories: Pacific Point Stitched Ribbon.

This is a 3" square card, perfect to go with a gift for a boy's birthday party. I started out using markers to make this blimp different colors and then had the a-ha moment: stamp it twice, once in Tangerine Tango and once in Pacific Point and cut the Tangerine one out and put it on top of the Pacific Point one.  That gives the card a little more dimension nd interest.  To make the clouds behind the Pacific Point image, I used the top of the Cupcake punch and inked around it and then moved it and did it over and over again to get clouds. (They are a little hard to see in this picture). I do like this "pinking" edge from this Edgelit too.  It is a nice finishing touch that isn't too girly.  And of course, a little paper piercing at the bottom too.

I hope you have enjoyed these projects featuring Moving Forward.  Remember, every time this stamp set is purchased, Stampin' Up! donates $3 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  A fabulous stamp set for a great cause!

Moving Forward Sailboat Card

Today I promised to show you a closer look at the Sailboat card I made for the blog hop. 

Colors: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White.  Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners and Moving Forward.  Big Shot: 3" circle die, Striped Embossing Folder, Large Scallop Edgelit, Bitty Banners Framelit.  Accessories: Brads, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, 1/4" Wild Wasabi stitched grosgrain ribbon.

As I posted on the blog hop, this card pretty much made itself.  Everything just seemed to fall into place.  I knew I wanted to make a baby card and I knew I wanted it to be these colors.  The rest just happened.  This doesn't happen for me very often but I love it when it does.  Usually I cut a bunch of pieces out and move things around and try to make it work and then end up starting all over again. 

I also knew I wanted to show off the new Essentials Paper Piercing Pack. I loved the old Mat Pack we had with the little piercing template, but this is about 1000 times better.  To start with, it is a full 6"x6".  That means it fits across an entire card and you don't have to move it and line it back up as you go down a card front.  It comes with three separate templates too and many of them match up with the shapes in the Apothecary Accents Framelits, several different Edgelits and many of our most popular punches.  Here is what they look like:

Come back on Friday for a closer look at the final two cards from the Blog Hop!

Moving Forward Tricycle Box

I hope you enjoyed the Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Blog Hop as much as I did.  I swore I wasn't going to buy any more new stamp sets from this catalog for awhile, but darn if I'm not tempted by some of the featured sets that I don't own.  If you missed the hop, it's not too late.  All the posts are deep linked together and will continue to be available for the foreseeable future.  You can start here.

I promised to share with you some of the details from my projects this week.  I thought I would start with the Tricycle box since it is the project with the most details to share.  I was never really thrilled with the picture I took of it last week but I ran out of time to tweak it any more.  Maybe this one is better:

Colors: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Gray and Wild Wasabi.  Stamps: Moving Forward.  Big Shot: Oval Accent Clear Bigz and Bitty Banner Framelits.  Punch: Corner Rounder.  Accessories: Mini Brads, Basic Black 1/8"Taffeta Ribbon, and Markers.

From that picture, you can't see the end of the banner so here is a close up of the topper:

For the main image, I used my markers to color on the stamp to get this different colors.  The flowers that I added to the basket are one of the four smaller images included in this set.  To make the banner with the words, I used the largest of the Bitty Banner Framelits and cut off one end.

For the box, I knew I wanted it to be wide enough to use the new Oval Accent Die for the topper.  It is approximately 4-1/8" wide so my box needed to be at least 4" wide. I started with a  piece of 12"x7" card stock and placed it on my Simply Scored with the short side at the top and scored it at 1-34". Then I turned the box and scored it at 1-3/4", 5-3/4", 7-1/2" and 11-1/2".  To make it easier for the box to close, I also ran a score line about 2/3 of the length of the box at 7/8" and and 6-5/8" (the middle of  the 1-3/4" sections.)  You can see those score lines when you turn the box to the side:

Fold along all the score lines and clip out the extra piece 1/2"x1-3/4" piece on the bottom end.  Place adhesive on the 1/2" tab piece and the bottom pieces and assemble (just like a 2, 4, 7, 10 box).  For the topper, I scored the die cut in the center and then adhered it to the back of the box.  I used the super thin neodymiom magnets to close it on the front.  Then I added the ribbon and image and voila!

These kind of boxes are very simple to customize.  The trick is to have your bottom the same width as the sides of your box. And the Simply Scored board makes it that much easier since it has the score lines every 1/8".

On Wednesday, I'll share the details of the Sailboat card from the hop, so come back then.

Stampin' Addict's New Catalog Blog Hop: Moving Forward

Welcome to stop #13 on the Stampin' Addict's New Catalog Blog Hop.  If you are hoping in order, then you've arrived from Betty's Kitty Stamps and her fabulous look at Clockworks.  If this is your first stop on the hop, just follow the links at the end of the post to loop back around to the beginning so you don't miss out on any of the fabulous projects.  If you get lost along the way, visit the main thread over on Stampin' Addicts.

There were so many stamp sets to choose from, but I decided to go with Moving Forward -- this year's Make A Difference stamp set.  Stampin' Up! donates $3 from the sale of each of these stamp sets to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  I was very impressed to learn that Stampin' Up! has donated more than $1,000,000 to this fabulous charity over the years.  If you haven't discovered this set yet, it's inside the very back cover of the catalog.

The set features three stamps with a transportation theme: a sailboat, tricycle and blimp. There are  four additional smaller stamps to accent the larger ones.  Each of the larger images have a greeting attached, but I cut them off to make the set a little more versatile.  I have four projects to share with you today and I will be posting more details about each one over the next couple of weeks so please come back and see ALL the details then.

This card seemed to make itself.  (Love it when that happens.)  I just love this sailboat.  It just spoke "baby card" to me (even though the attached greeting says Thinking of You).  Several other new items are featured on this card including the Large Scallop Edgelit and the fabulous new Stampin' Pierce Mat.  I may have gotten a little carried away with the paper piercing on this card, but it's so easy with this new template.  This should go to the top of everyone's wish list ASAP.  I also used a greeting from the Itty Bitty Banner Set with the matching Bitty Banner Framelits. And let's not forget the new stitched grosgrain ribbon: love this stuff.

Isn't this blimp fun?  I don't remember Stampin' Up selling a blimp stamp before but I know this is my first.  The pinking design on the orange mat comes from the new Finishing Touches Edgelit set.  And I added a different color of the new stitched ribbon and just a touch of paper piercing to add just the right touch to this 3x3 card.

Remember I told you that there are four little accent stamps that go with this set?  This card features two of them: that cute frog and that dotted swirly line. I just love this little frog and I can see him appearing on lots of projects in the next year.  I used the new Gumball Green In Color card stock, ink and stitched satin ribbon as well.

My last project is a box that features the tricycle from the set.  I know I gushed over the blimp and the sailboat, but I think the tricycle is my favorite.  I had a tricycle just like this when I was a child (minus the basket on the back).  So it makes me nostalgic.  I cut the new Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper with a new Oval Accent Clear Bigz Die to make the topper for this box.  The box itself was made with the Simply Scored too.  I will share more details about this project on Monday so if you want the measurements and directions, come back then.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I hope you will stop back again soon.  If you started at the beginning of this hop with Twila's Stamp a Little Longer look at Chock-Full of Cheer, you've made it all the way to the end.  If you started somewhere in the middle, then just continue to her blog by clicking "next."

Pleasant Poppies

One of the first stamps that caught my eye in the new 2012-2013 Catalog was Pleasant Poppies.  It is a larger, single stamp, big enough to cover an entire card front.  Here is the first card I made with it.

Colors: Gumball Green, Coral Calypso, Whisper White.  Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Pursuit of Happiness.  Accessories: Black StazOn Ink, Markers, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon.

This is one of the first extra large stamp sets that has been available in clear mount.  One of the things I love about clear mount stamps is the ability to "surgically" separate a single stamp image for more versatility.  On this stamp, I used my trusty Craft & Rubber Scissors to cut the smaller group of flowers off of the larger image. Here is the entire image so you can get an idea of which part I cut off:

Does that cause anyone any heart palpitations?  At first it freaked me out a little bit too when I first thought of it.  But with clear mount, it is so simple to just line them back up on the block along the cut line for when you need the entire image.   And it worked so well, I plan to do it with other stamps too.

This is one of the cards that will be available at my All-You-Can-Stamp Buffet this Saturday and next Tuesday.  Thursday is the last day to RSVP for this event so let me know if you plan to attend.

And Friday starts the Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Blog Hop.  I will be featuring the new Ronald McDonald House Stamp Set called Moving Forward.  We'll see you then!