Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

I’m on the social committee at school. We plan events where we can hang out and relax as a faculty — things that don’t involve school work. So of course I volunteered to host card making in the library. Our big tables are just perfect for stamping! Today was our first get together, and we had a lot of fun. We made a few different Halloween projects, and one of them fit perfectly with today’s Pals Paper Arts color challenge. (Actually two of them did, but I’ll save the other for another day.) Throw in a little black, and these colors are delightfully spooky!

One of the Halloween treats that we made today was this great little bag. Look familiar? Of course it does! I have made them for Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, and  St. Patrick’s Day. I just love the way two peppermint patties look covered with scalloped circles and Top Note Die Cut on the baggie! Here is my Halloween version:

Stamps: Batty for You, All Holidays
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Basic Black. Cast-a-Spell Designer Series Paper
Other: Top Note Die, Big Shot, Word Window Punch, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Small Cello Bags, peppermint patties

How cute would these be to hand out at Halloween parties> Or for very special Trick-or-Treaters?

One of the most amazing things about rubber stamping is that anyone, of virtually any age, can do it. I was privileged today to accompany our fourth graders on their service learning field trip to the Jewish Home for the Aging. They were paired up with senior citizens, asked them questions about their lives, played a word game, and stamped some cards.

(thanks to Samantha Alvarez  for the fabulous photo!)

It was truly amazing to watch them stamp cards together. They shared in the joy of creating together, and the finished project was beautiful.

If you are looking for a way to connect people regardless of age, rubber stamping is certainly one answer. Everyone enjoyed today — the 4th graders, the seniors, the teachers, and the parent volunteers.

How fun and bright is this birthday card? It is another card from the set Steve took with him as a gift. I love how cheerful these colors are. And yes, it uses the In Color Stampin’ Write markers again.

Stamps: Party Hearty
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Paper: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper
Other: Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon

When I saw this fabulous card by Gretchen Barron, I knew I had to make one with gummy worms in one of the sweet treats cups as well. And once again, the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge lent itself nicely to including one of the sweet treat cups.

I started out by looking at the colors of the gummy worms. (And tasting a few for additional inspiration, of course.) They went from red to yellow with orange in between, so those were the colors I chose for my card. I made my own “ink pad” with drops of reinker on a baby wipe so that my stamped worms would have the same color variations as the gummy ones. I wanted to use an oval like in the sketch, so used a Stampin’ Write marker to ink up only “worm wishes” out of the rest of the phrase.

Stamps: Bugs & Kisses
Ink: Real Red, Only Orange, Yo-Yo Yellow, Versamark
Paper: Real Red, Only Orange, Yo-Yo Yellow, Whisper White
Accessories: Sweet Treat Cup, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Scalloped Border Punch

I’m definitely having fun with these sweet treat cups!

This week’s challenge over at Pals Paper Arts is a theme challenge, with the theme being Gratitude and Thanks. As I was looking through my stamp sets trying to decide what to do with this theme, I realized that I hadn’t used Cheep Talk in quite a while. And since the weather has finally turned fall-like (here in Los Angeles that mean the low 70s…), I decided to use Cheep Talk with a fall color combo. I’m very happy with the way it came out!

Stamps: Cheep Talk
Ink: Stampin’ Write Markers in Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango
Paper: Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry Designer Prints Series Paper
Other: Dusty Durango Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig

I just have to say again how happy I am that the Stampin’ Write Markers are available in the In Colors this year!

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts first ever Blog Carnival! It features Stampin’ Up’s new digital crafting software, My Digital Studio. Because this is a blog carnival, you can choose any of the participants to go to next! A full list is at the bottom of this post, or you can visit Stampin’ Addicts for more information.

There are many things that I love about My Digital Studio. First, I love that it is on my own computer, and not stored on the Internet somewhere, so I don’t need Internet access to use it. Second, I love that it works on both PCs and Macs. Third, I love that it comes licensed to install on two computers in the same home, which means that I can legally put it on both my laptop and my desktop computer. Fourth, I love that it comes with pre-made templates by Stampin’ Up’s fabulous designers that are easy to use and easy to modify as well. Today I’m going to show you two projects where I easily modified pre-made templates.

I have been working on putting together a scrapbook of my daughter Eve’s year in kindergarten. I let her pick which designer kit she wanted, and she chose to use Sunny Day. It’s beautiful and versatile, and has been working out great! Here is a page I did of her working in woodshop. I did not modify the page at all, other than to insert the two pictures and add the journaling.

For Halloween I started with that exact same layout, since I wanted the Pumpkin Pie background paper. As you can see, however, I removed quite a few stamps and embellishments, changed colors of other parts, and added in new embellishments and stamps. But I stuck with the same basic colors (other than black) that are in the whole album. And it was so easy!

Next, I wanted to try a card. Yesterday was my in-laws anniversary, but they are on vacation so I couldn’t mail them a traditional card. I wanted to make a digital card that I could email them. There are quite a few pre-made cards to choose from, so I picked this Christmas card because I liked the layout and the colors.

I deleted the holly and used the oval punch to cover up the Christmas greeting in the middle. Then I used a stamp from Together Forever in the oval, and Baroque Motifs on the bottom half. I finished it with a little red heart punch. I am so pleased with how it came out!

Whether you feel like designing from scratch, using a template, or somewhere in between, My Digital Studio truly is your digital papercrafting solution!

Thanks for visiting this part of the Blog Carnival. Be sure and take a look at these other fabulous blogs:

DMDezigns/Dawnmarie: My Digital Studio – The Birdseye Overview
HowManyCats?!/Comeka: Digitize Your Sketch Library with MDS
Willysgirl/Sarah: MDS Xmas and Extras
Hollylogic/Holly: MDS as a Design Tool (or How Not to Slice Up All Your Brushed Gold)
Lyssa: Playing with Stamps You Don’t Own
Lilysinkpad/Sara: Simply Scrappin’ Kits Go Digi
JulieA/Julie: Wanna Little Music with Your Slideshow?
lovetostampandscrap/Cheryl: Creating a Calendar to Beat All Calendars
Melina Stamps!/Melina: Man-Scrapping with MDS
BroncoMom/Joyce: Build Your Own DSP
Britiney: Clever Album Covers – A Piece of (Cup)Cake
S1itcher46/Kim: Hybridizing and Cataloging Collections
Kelli: Side-by-Side Test: Is it Actual or Is It MDS?
Scrapbookmama/Ellie: Keeping the Spotlight on Your (Adorable!) Subjects

Whoo-hoo! Stampin’ Up brought back the Deal of the Week again for the month of October! I’m so excited! This first one is a fabulous deal, and actually lasts a bit longer that a week. It is good until 8am on Monday, October 12 — at which point the next Deal of the Week will be announced. This week’s Deal:

You can shop right now on my website. Don’t forget, My Digital Studio is available to purchase now as well!

Whoo-hoo! It is October 1st and that means that Stampin’ Up’s fabulous Digital Papercrafting Solution, My Digital Studio, is now available to purchase! As a Stampin’ Up Demonstrator, I’ve been able to play with it for a few weeks now, and believe me, it is fabulous! (Want to be able to get all of the new stuff sooner? See below for a great sign up special!)

Want to see some of the great things that My Digital Studio can do? I’m excited to be part of a Blog Carnival starting this Saturday. A carnival is different than a hop. Instead of linking in a circle, I’ll have a list of participating blogs, who will show a wide variety of projects, including scrapbook pages, cards, calendars, and more! The carnival goes through November 1st, so you’ll have plenty of time to peruse all of the great ideas. I’ll keep a button on the sidebar for you to have easy access to these great ideas! (And yes, the logo above was made by Lyssa using My Digital Studio!)

Can’t wait until Saturday? Here’s a short video from Stampin’ Up all about My Digital Studio.

Even more good news!!

Stampin’ Up has introduced a Digital+ Starter Kit. That’s right, you can sign up to be a demonstrator with an exclusive Starter Kit that includes My Digital Studio, in addition to stamps, inks, and accessories.
Digital+ Starter Kit Price: $185 (over $295 value!)

Digital+ Starter Kit Contents:

• My Digital Studio software suite
• Two stamp sets (Party Hearty, Petal Pizzazz)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)
• Earth Elements assorted card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)
• Four Classic Stampin’ Pads (Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise)
• Four Stampin’ Write markers (Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red)
• Chocolate Chip 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon
• Real Red 1″ double-stitched grosgrain ribbon
• Button Latte Designer buttons
• Stampin’ Dimensionals
• Mini Glue Dots
• SNAIL Adhesive
• Business supplies (product catalogs, order forms, training DVD and other supplies)

Signing up has never been easier! You can do it right through my website.  You’ll need to use my special password, which is SUwithYapha.

Please let me know if you have any questions about My Digital Studio. I’m happy to answer them!