Stampin' Addicts 2014 Sale-a-bration Blog Hop

Happy Sale-a-bration Time! Come on and enjoy another Stampin' Addicts Blog Hop where my demonstrator friends and I post our projects featuring the lastest Stampin' Up! products. You'll get great ideas with every single Sale-a-bration product in this year's catalog!

If going in order, you came from Tina's Paper Art Garden featuring the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. Weren't they great projects? If you are going backwards, you came from Kim's Stitchin n Stampin' on Paper where she will show you the Blanner Blast Stamp Set. (LOVE it!)

Here at Lily's Ink Pad, I'm featuring the Good as Gold kit. Here is all I made with a single kit (and nothing else):

The Good as Gold kit comes with supplies to make 8 cards that look just like the top middle one. I made it to show how easy it was, and cute, BTW. Although, I've always been a silver fan, I'm liking the pop the gold has!

The center bottom project is not a card, but a mini-scrapbook:

I made a chain of  5 envelopes by gluing one flap to the back of the next. I then used two cards to cover two envelopes with a bit of the Sahara Sand envelope to contrast the dots. I then added pictures I printed (so kind of a poor quality) of my neice and I goofing off at her last photo shoot with Unka Bubba. I added accents from the kit, trimming the French and German Banners as I saw fit to add some fun. I used the Envelope Liners for the gold mat on the pictures. See that final panel? It has a smaller (3x3) picture on it and it's also special. Youc an pull on the tabs on the right and reveal, a full page:

 The second to last envelope made the perfect pocket for the page and reveals a quick kiss from Clare. I love this and thought of giving it away, but think I am going to put it on my desk at work. 

I wanted to use as much of the kit as I could, and I have trouble following directions, so I played with the cardfronts and how I could accent them:

I tried repeatedly to get a great picture, but that gold is super reflective and I couldn't get one with all the cards showing well. My favorite is the top middle. I don't usually go for so much flash, but that's fun!

I hope you enjoyed my projects. I know you will enjoy Kim's Banner Blast projects at Stitchin n' Stampin on Paper! Or go backwards to Tina's Decorative Dots projects at Paper Art Garden.

You can also join us all on the Stampin' Addicts Discussion Thread!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

and Today Sale-a-bration 2014 Begins!

How awesome! Sale-a-bration 2014 starts today! You can check out the catalog on my website by clicking this image:

One of my favorite products to earn for FREE this year, is the ONE BIG SALE-A-BRATION CD for MDS. I made this calender for it:

 

Finally, I got around to it. For four more days it will be my desktop calendar.

Happy Stamping!

Sara

Sale-a-bration is Just Around the Corner!

Sale-a-bration is the best time of year for Stampin! For every $50 you spend, you get free, exclusive products! Here is what I made using 4 of them:

Cute, huh? I'm loving these colors featured in the Sweet Sorbet  Designer Series Paper (133521). I The twine is from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack (133522). The banners are made with Banner Blast (133551w, 133554c) and the Banner Punch (133519).

Stamps: Banner Blast
Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper, Crumb Cake
Ink: Pool Party, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories: On Film Framelits, Banner Punch, Sweet Sortbet Accessory pack, Itty Bitty Flower Punch.

I'm not the best cutter (ask my Kindergarten teacher), so I LOVE PUNCHES. The Banner Punch makes those little banners easy but I also discovered that the flower from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack punches the flower from Banner Blast Perfectly. I was able to add a cute little accent inside the frame! I love how Stampin' Up! makes sure my life is easy!

I have openings for workshops. Call or email me to schedule a workshop or private class!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

A Progression of Ideas...

cards, cards, cards! The design process isn't always easy. Sometimes, a card can take hours to design as I go through ideas to get the final product!

Here are some rough drafts of my card I am sharing today. It started with me stamping Midnight Muse on Marina Mist and Wisteria Wonder paper, but it just didn't work for my card. Then, I tried different flowers on the front in different colors. No good. Next, I tried the painter's tape technique. No good. Finally, I had the flower idea I ended up using.

Yet, what sentiment? I used two different ones. I ended up using the "a thousand thanks" for my swaps, as I liked it's simplicity.

So the final card looked like this:

Embarassingly, I used retired ribbon on it as the swap. I never do that. I thought it was current since Pool Party is a current color. However, the ribbon was when Pool Party was an In Color, but now it's a part of the Subtles family. I still like the card, though.

Stamps: Petite Petals
Paper: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Pistachio Pudding
Accessories: Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon (retired), Pearls, Post-its, Petite Petals Punch

The Petite Petals stamp set and the Petite Petals Punch are a bundle option-- you save 15% on both when you use the bundle codes. How cool is that?

Happy Stamping!

Sara

I do!

Happy Monday! This card should brighten things up!

The beauty of the Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper is amazing. I wanted to combine these dots with the yellow watercolored page. I had one more in mind, but didn't love it, so ended up with this design--circles. The circles of the ring, the circles of life, the circle of marriage. Not sure if that is really what the recipients will get out of it, but I loved the design repitition of circles at any rate!

Stamps: Perfect Couple
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Smokey Slate, Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Circles Framelits, Big Shot, Rhinestones, Dazzling Diamonds, Two-way Glue, 1/4" Stitched Daffodil Delight Ribbon, 3/4" Circle Punch

I love making modern cards!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

Happy Birthday Fun Fold Card!

Sorry, I was down with a cold yesterday and didn't post. I slept all night, then got up at 11, went back to sleep at 11:30 and then woke up at 4. My head was all fuzzy and I did very little. I went back to bed at 9 after getting some work done. Totally crazy. I feel a bit better today, so hopefully, the cold is stopped in its tracks.

On to some stamping:

We made this at the Stampin' Day Away, but I am just sharing it now. All products are from the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog, including the Epic Day Designer Series Paper, which just makes this card cool.

Stamps: Yippee Skippee!
Paper: Basic Gray, Gumball Green, Pool Party, Whisper White, Epic Day Designer Series Paper
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Subtles Candy Dots, Big Shot, Squares Framelits, Bird Punch, Stampin' Trimmer with Rotary Cutter blade with Scalloped Edge, Corner Rounder Punch

You can hardly see it on the card, but I made the "frosting" by cutting thin strips of paper with the Scalloped Edge on my Rotary Cutter. Pretty easy and cute. The base is a Stair step Card. I got the idea from Patsy Wagonner and made it my own

Happy Stamping!
Sara

Point in the Right Direction

This week's challenge at the As You Can See It Challenge was to use Arrows on a project. I used one arrow on this project, but I also think the triangle points are arrow-ish.

I'm digging the Geometrical Stamp Set. It has great sayings and fun stamps. Maybe that's just the math teacher in me! I love the variety of equilateral triangles and I wanted to try a tessellation. I had a vision for this card, but this wasn't it, so I do plan to make more!

Stamps: Geometrical
Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Triangle Punch

These come as a Bundle:

Wood Mount (134941) $38.95
Clear Mount (134942) $32.25

Which is a 15% savings from buying the set and punch separately!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

A little sunshine...

of the papercrafting variety. It's pretty chilly outside the past two days. It got to 5 degrees above zero today. Yippeee. My nephews spent a couple days with us and last night we watched the Godfather parts I and most of II. I usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of any movie. I stayed up wayyyyy tooo late, so this post (and everything else got a bit delayed). Back the cards  for today--a little sunshine:

I made these first when I got my Occasions preorder, but have been holding off on posting until everybody could order from the catalog. Pretty cool, huh? I love this technique and plan to use it again. It's quite easy. I followed Dawn Olechefske's video tutorial.

Stamps: Geometrical
Paper: Fresh Prints Paper Pack, Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Stampin' Trimmer, Big Shot, Apothocary Accents Framelits, Retro Fresh Washi Tape, Coastal Cabana Ruffled Ribbon, Adhesive Sheets

The only real change I made was that I used the Adhesive Sheets to stick my triangles to the paper. Easy and fun.



Happy Stamping!
Sara

Stampin' Addicts Occasions 2014 Blog Hop Recap and More Info

I hope you all are staying warm wherever you are! My post was delayed today due to a Snow Day Sleepover. I thought I had it automatically set to post, but it vanished instead. Luckily, I noticed.

Remember my projects?

Each one of the squares on the Sampler was like designing a 3x3 card In fact, the black mattes are 3x3 and then the inner layers are 3 3/4" by 3 3/4". Each little area has it's own fun. I used ink and markers and layers. Lots of layers.I bought the frame at local store. It actually is magnetic, so I made this to switch out each season. The base is a Basic Gray grid page from the Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper. I conveniently used the grid to center my design!

Stamps: Love You To the Moon
Paper: Fresh Prints Paper Stack, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Gray. Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper
Ink: Basic Black, Smokey Slate, Real Red, Basic Gray
Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits Dies, Chalk Talk Framelit Dies, Hearts Framelits Dies, Brights Candy Dots, Neutrals Candy Dots, Pearls, Rhinestones, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Mini Metallic Clothespins, Chalk Marker, Paper Piercer, 1/4" Stitched Real Red Ribbon, Aquapainter

Here's a close-up. The top three all use the same framelit heart. I just cut the center out of a Real-Red one, and used the reverse frame for the far right and made my own arrow using parts from the arrow in the Frame it! Framelits. I then added a little detail with the Chalk Marker. As I wrote during the blog hop, the middle left one is for my husband- camera and all. I used the Chalk Talk Framelits since they coordinate with this stamp set. I love how Stampin' Up! plans these things out just for me! The middle uses the mine stamped in Real Red and Basic Black so it looks 3D. I used my markers to color just the mine on the Thanks for being mine stamp. The right center one uses the new tag punch and a mini-clothespin for fun. In every square, I added candy dots for fun.

And the last row:

I had to use the Love You tot he Moon and Back Stamp, but it was large, so I tried for a different look with the off-center placement of the background. I colored the moon with an aquapainter and added rhinestones. In the middle one, I wanted a matte for the music note and noticed that the new Sale-a-bration Banner Punch looked the the right size! How cool! I used a 3/4" Circle Punch for the bottom part. Cute and easy. The LOVE frame was easy. I love those film frames and the love fit perfectly.

Here is the candy bag again, also:

Stamps: Love You To the Moon
Paper: Fresh Prints Paper Stack, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelit Dies, Hearts Framelits Dies, Chalk Marker, Paper Piercer, 1/4" Stitched Real Red Ribbon, Gold Baker's Twine, Small Heart Punch, Scallops Embossing Folder.

I ran the three layers--Real Red, Basic Black, and the Striped Designer Series Paper with the tag framelit, so I could layer the parts. Then, I just added the other layers. The heart was embossed with the Scallop folder and then I added the Chalk Marker stripes to add some dimension and detail.

The Mine card:

I used a sketch from my friends at the As You See It Challenge Blog. The Doily seemed to fit perfectly and the rest was easy. A great sketch can do that!

and the last card;

Stamps: Love You to the Moon
Paper: Fresh Prints Paper Stack, Crumb Cake, Pool Party
Ink: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Real Red
Accessories: 1" Square Punch, 1/4" Real Red Stitched Ribbon

I used the exact same paper stack on this card as the rest. That's how amazing that pack is! Fun colors, fun prints, fun to be had stamping!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

Stampin' Addicts Occasions Catalog Blog Hop: Love You to the Moon

Happy New Year and Stampin' Up's release of NEW products in the Occasions 2014 Catalog! My friends at Stampin' Addicts and I have whipped up the most amazing cards, projects, and pages for you to view all the new stuff. Keep your wish list handy!

How this blog hop works: You click on the next or previous buttons at the bottom of each post to travel in a big ol' loop of blogs by Stampin' Up! Demonstrators. Each blog features one stamp set or new product, showing you great ideas! You just "hop" from one to another until you get back here. In fact, you may have come from The Stampin' Bunny with her Awesome projects featuring Happy Watercolor. Next, you can go to Tina's Paper Art Garden and see her fabulous use of Language of Love.

But before you move on, here are my projects featuring the stamp set Love You to the Moon (133140 wood, 133143 clear).

 I knew that I wanted to make a sampler frame as soon as I saw this set. The elements are very eclectic, yet go together so well in this type of project. Where did I get all that red paper? In the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack (132996, $6.95).  This little pack has fabulous color combinations with Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake, Real Red, and Whisper White. They don't seem like a good idea, but I am in love!

My favorite square from this project is center left and is for my husband, Bubba. The camera because he's a photographer and the saying because it's why I fell in love with him. Awwww. Enough gushing for now. If you want details on the rest and some close-ups, check back on my blog on Monday.

Valentine's Day has to have some candy treats--at least in my world. I ended up (after a kitchen nightmare) with the idea of red and silver kisses in a cello bag:

The tag is from the Chalk Talk Framelits from the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog which coordinate with this set. I used the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack again on the tag along with the LOVE sentiment. Check out the embossing on the red heart. I used the new Scallops Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (132971) and added a little accent with the Chalk Marker (132133).

A traditional valentine seemed right for the "Thanks for Being Mine Sentiment."

I'll give details on this card on Monday, also. I have some friends in Canada to thank for the sketch.

My last card is one that could be used as a Valentine, but could also just be to tell someone you love them ---to the moon and back!

I used my markers to color the stamp set and then inside the images. Easy and Cute. My specialty.

Well, that's what I have for you here at Lily's Ink Pad. Next, you can hop on over to Tina's blog to see Language of Love or if you want to go backwards, check out Rhonda's Happy Watercolor Wonderful-ness!

Happy Stamping!

Sara

New Year Happiness

As I reflect on the past year and the new year, I want to focus on happiness. What makes me happy?

• Being creative.
• Getting lost in a great book.
• Laughing with Bubba
• Hugs from family
• Spending time with Clare, Nathan, and Tim
• Being outdoors
• Watching my students learn a new skill or idea!

But most of all, making other people happy makes me happy. This card should do that:

Stamps: Lovely Labels, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Real Red
Accessories: Artisan Label Punch, Hardware Clips Essentials, Pumpkin Pie Chevron Ribbon

I love, the colors on this one, so much I felt the middle needed some more love:

 Making this card made me happy because it was like splatter painting with stamps. Free and fun!


Happy Stamping!
Sara