Card Two

This one was a bit more of a challenge. Because the Knot stamp by B Line Designs is a duo stamp, the images are not indexed anywhere. That makes it kind of hard to know what you're going to get. I thought this card would make an excellent "man card". You know how hard those are to come by. I stamped the words out first on white and used that as my "ruler" to know how far apart to space the knots. If you wanted to be really precise about this, you'd best use a stamp positioner. I just eyeballed it, and it turned out pretty good. I stamped the knot twice with Versamark and embossed with silver. I then used an x-acto knife to cut a slit around each knot on the inner edge so the words would tuck inside. Part of what makes this card so appealing is the decorative paper I stamped the knots on. It's a beautiful nautical paper by Far and Away, so you'll want to come into the shop and grab yours while supplies last - they've announced they are going out of business!

Card One

Marilynn took some pity on me and gave me a couple of stamps that actually made sense together: The lady wearing a hat by Inky Antics and the "Hats off to you!" phrase by Sparkle N Sprinkle. I wanted to play off the action of actually taking the hat off, so I began by stamping the lady twice - once on white and once on green cardstock. I colored the lady stamped on white with copic markers. I punched a square in the front of the card and lined my colored image up on the inside of the card so that the top of the square lined up with her hat. I then cut out the hat stamped on green, colored it with copics and clear Glaze pen. I then glued it to the front of the card so that when you open the card, it looks like you're taking off her hat. I stamped the phrase beneath the punched out square. Fun!

The Marilynn Challenge

I don't know how many of you have been reading since the beginning of the blog, but if you have, you'll know that Marilynn occasionally issues "challenges". She gives me a handfull of stamps and says "Go see what you can make with these." Sadly, I can never seem to resist the challenge, so I am spending part of today with my thinking cap on, trying to impress Marilynn.

Before I get to that, though, I needed a warm-up. In preparing to teach my Outines Jewel It class tomorrow, I was playing with some of their other new Jewel It images. I wish this photographed better - it's hard to see how the crystals sparkle and how the metallic paper shimmers. I embossed both the Outlines C901 Support Jewel ribbon stamp and the word "Hope" by Kodomo with silver powder on metallic pink paper. I then applied a combination of two sizes of Swarovski crystals and some clear self-adhesive A Muse gems to the ribbon, cut it out and glued it to a strip of silver metallic paper. I'll bring the card to the shop so you can see in person how it glimmers and shines. And.....I'll be back later to post my other creations - hopefully they are "post-worthy."

a*muse*a*palooza is almost here!

My how time flies! It's almost time for the 3rd annual a*muse*a*palooza event - which for us kicks off the Christmas in July season! Join us July 8 - 12 for stamping fun with all new stamps from A Muse. They have released 36 new wood-mounted stamps, 2 clear sets, lots of notecards and even 8 1/2 x 11" papers. And we'll have them all!

Our event kicks off Tuesday, July 8 with a FREE demo from 12 - 2. We'll be playing with the new winter and holiday themed stamps, tags, accu-cut cards and more. Tuesday evening, Melinda will be leading the Merry and Bright class. On Wednesday evening, Melinda switches it up with a fantastic class on using the new stamps to create one-of-a-kind gift bags, boxes and tags in the Wrap it Up workshop.

Thursday, join us for the first of two FREE make-and-takes. Stop in any time between 10 AM and 9 PM for a little "peace on earth". Thursday evening, Melinda is back with her shimmery Holiday Sparkle class.

On Saturday from 10 AM - 5 PM, we have our final FREE make-and-take that promises to be "snow" much fun! Plus, Melinda wraps up an amazing week with two final classes: Whimsical Winter and Naughty or Nice. We have a lot going on in hopes that you will find time during the week to join us and CHILL!

Marvelous Magenta (and Marilynn)

Honestly, I don't know how Marilynn does it! She is the genius behind our Thursday free make-and-takes. For nearly 5 years now, she has come up with beautiful cards and new techniques week after week after week. Sometimes, we'll say "come up with something great using this stamp" - which would cause me to cave under the pressure, but Marilynn delivers every time. This week's free make-and-take features a new stamp from Magenta and the opportunity to color on vellum. I love the soft look. You'll be amazed at how easy this is! Stop in any time June 26 from 10-9 and give it a try!

Delightful Demos

Stacy Rich (on the right wearing black) of Stacy Stamps is just fun - there are no two ways about it! She led two amazing demos yesterday at the shop where she walked us through 9 different projects featuring her shaker, envelope and box templates as well as coloring techniques including twinkling H20s and highlighting with white pencils. She even gave stuff away at the end of the demo. What an informative and generous guest artist! We look forward to having her back to teach some full classes next year.

Stacy Stamps Patriotic Card

One of the cards Stacy left for us to display at the shop was this stunning patriotic card featuring her eagle stamp. I hadn't thought of stamping her background words (the Statue of Liberty quote) in dye ink as a background for more words! Make sure the dye ink is thoroughly dry before overstamping the word "Peace" with pigment ink and embossing in gold. Simple and beautiful.

Monkey's in da House!

Aah. Summertime. Blazing heat, disastrous storms, global warming and out of control gas prices. It's not what it used to be is it? Don't you just long for the days of hanging by the pool and playing in the park?

Since it's too hot to do either, come stamp with us!

addendum: Angela just warned me to stop monkeying around and focus. I failed to mention that this is tomorrow's - Thursday's - free make and take. So come in tomorrow and make monkeys with us!

Make and Take for Thursday, June 12

Isn't this card perfect for that special man in your life? Use it for Father's Day, birthday or any occasion! And, we won't tell that this is also the perfect way to use up those scraps of paper you've been saving for just the right time!

Crazy for Collage Make & Take

Important Note! We lost power yesterday due to the storm that went through, so please give us a call today to be sure power has been restored before heading over. Even though today's card features a fairly relaxed collage technique using the new Prima clear unmounted sets that you could probably do with your eyes closed, we don't really want to put that to the test :-) Besides that, when we say "hope to see you there", we really do hope to SEE you! 703-435-0051.

May's Wall of Fame Winner

Congratulations to Ruth Junkin, who submitted this amazing floral creation! Ruth used the Dogwood stamp from Make An Impression and 3 different punches to provide a 3-D effect (that you really need to see in person to fully appreciate). We're looking forward to seeing what you all do for June's challenge - Vacation/Bon Voyage!