Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts New Catalog Mega Hop, featuring brand new sets from Stampin’ Up’s 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog. You may have just arrived here from Rhonda’s Stampin’ Bunny blog, where she featured the teen hit, Grunge Rock. If you are starting here, no worries! The whole hop goes in a circle, so you will be able to see all of the fantastic projects. I am featuring the new set, Family Business, which coordinates with All in the Family. I was super excited to see this set in the new catalog for several reasons. First, because I love All in the Family, and I love that they keep coming out with additional items for it. Second, because there is a top with a stethoscope! My husband is a respiratory therapist and my father is a pediatrician so this is just perfect. Third because there are books! I’m a librarian! I love books! And finally, I was thrilled to see the apple. It’s a little itty bitty apple, but I’m always looking for apples to make my Rosh Hashanah cards!

The first project I want to show you is the family card that I made. Now that we have the right professional accessories, it was a snap! (Note: I used the Blush Blossom marker for our faces. Although the rest of the Blush Blossom line has retired, the Blush Blossom Stampin’ Write Marker is still available.)

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Business, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze
Paper: Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Other: Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Folder, Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig

When I saw that this stamp set was available in the Clear Mount, I wasn’t sure which version to get. The wood mount was more expensive, but I worried about all of the little pieces. Would they stick to the blocks? Would I lose them? I have to tell you — I am so glad that I decided to go with the clear mount! They work great, take up less space, and best of all — I don’t have to use a Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement! I love it!

My second card could be a thank you note to a hair stylist or from a one. It works either way. How cute is that little hair dryer?

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Business, Family Phrases
Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, In-Color Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (Concord Crush)
Other: Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig

If you don’t want to dress full people, you can make some super cute tags using just the accessories. In the picture below, I have a cute back to school match box. (Not that I’m in favor of bringing matches to school. Obviously it would be filled with other things.) I also included three more tags that could be used with coordinating boxes, milk cartons, or even on the front of 3″ x 3″ cards.

Back to School:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White, Celebrations Designer Series Paper
Other: Matchbox Bigz XL Die, Big Shot, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Construction Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Basic Gray
Paper: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Gardening Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green, Cajun Craze, Basic Gray
Paper: Cajun Craze, Garden Green, Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Hair Styling Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Here’s a look at all of the pieces included in this fantastic addition to the All in the Family line. There are 18 pieces, covering a wide variety of occupations.

I hope you liked seeing these different projects made with Family Business. Your next stop on the Blog Hop is Tinkerin’ in Ink with Tanya, where she will be featuring the fun and fresh Funky Four.

Next Blog —>

Today’s Pals Paper Arts challenge is another monochromatic one — this time it is purple. I was trying to decide what I wanted to do. Purple flowers, purple butterflies, purple ??? I decided on purple owls. Yep, purple owls. I used Stampin’ Up’s new Owl Punch, which makes it so easy to create adorable owls. How cute are they?

Stamps: Woodgrain
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Basic Black, Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (Perfect Plum)
Other: Two Step Owl Punch, Whisper White 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon

This would make a super cute wedding or anniversary card, or even a Valentine.

Whoo-hoo! It’s a great time to host a Stampin’ Up workshop! Stampin’ Up! hostesses get extra hostess awards July 27-August 31, in addition to the already fantastic hostess benefits!

From July 27 to August 31, Stampin’ Up! hostesses can earn an EXTRA $25 to use toward Stampin’ Up! products of their choice when they host a workshop totaling $350 or more!

This extra benefit is included along with the standard hostess benefits they receive when they host a workshop. The standard hostess benefits include

• A free 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog worth $9.95!
• Free stamp sets only available to hostesses (with qualifying orders; select from the products on pages 10-16 of the Idea Book & Catalog)!
• Free Stampin’ Up! products of your choice!

This extra hostess benefit is only being offered for a limited time, so contact me TODAY to schedule a workshop!

I really like this week’s Stamping 411 sketch. (Do I say that every week? I feel like I say that every week. But you know what, I really do! These are great sketches!)

There are two things I’ve been wanting to do since the new catalog began. One is to play with the colors in the Brights collection and the other is to use my new Beautiful Wings Embosslit. So I combined them both for this sketch. Wow! That Beautiful Wings Embosslit is amazing!! (One important thing to note: be sure to run it through your Big Shot with the hinge opposite the handle.) Here’s what I came up with:

Stamps: Simply Said
Ink: Pacific Point
Paper: Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Other: Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Isn’t it so bright and cheery? I love it!

Now that I’m done teaching summer school, I’m hoping to get back into the swing of doing stamping challenges again. I combined two challenges today. I paired the three great colors from the Color Throwdown with a fantastic sketch from Clean & Simple.

Have I mentioned that I love Marina Mist? It is a fantastic color! And so many new ribbons come in Marina Mist! Love it! Here’s what I came up with.

Stamps: Happy Together
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Other: Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Trim Border Punch

How quite are those little quail? Though I have to say, I think of the Partridge Family every time I see that set. Maybe it is because of the name of the stamp set.

Yesterday was my downline Samantha’s bridal shower. Ordinarily, I might be tempted to give a package of handmade, stamped thank you notes. But since she is such a great stamper, I knew that Samantha would have more fun making her own. She also loves using My Digital Studio, so I decided to give her some of the new wedding-themed downloads that were just recently released. (You can see them here and here.)  I burned them onto a CD to give her. Then I needed some cute way to package the CD.

A CD is about 5″ in diameter, so I started with a 6″ square card, Her wedding is in October, and I know she is using some gorgeous fall colors, so I decided to focus on Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze. Here is what I came up with for the cover:

Stamps: Medallion, Perfect Punches, All Holidays, Itty Bitty Bits
Ink: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla
Other: 1″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (circle), Bitty Buttons, Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon, Sponge Dauber

I used the satin ribbon to tie the card closed, since the CD was heavy, and also to make it look more like a present. Once you untie it, this is what you see: (I wrote my note to her on the left side.)

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper
Other: 1″ Circle Punch, Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon

Isn’t that Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper great? It comes with one side of each piece embossed with a glossy design. I made sure when I cut it that the glossy part would show here. I used SNAIL on three sides of the Cajun Craze card stock to make a pocket, an added a notch to get the CD out more easily.

Next, I needed an envelope, since I didn’t have anything big enough for this card. I used another sheet of the Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper. This was a very simple envelope — I took a 9.5″ square, turned it on it’s point, then folded in the corners. I sealed the bottom three sides with snail, then used a little of the Dotto Repositionable adhesive so the top flap could be easily opened and closed again.  I stamped Samanthatha’s name with the Broadsheet Alphabet set, since iti was one of the digital downloads on the disc. Here is the front:

And the back:

I’m really pleased with how this came out! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Samantha! I wish you only happiness!

I talked Steve into starting a blog for our Great Dane puppy, Jack. To help him along, I made a super cute header for him in My Digital Studio. It was so easy to make four photo squares and then fill them with pictures of Jack getting older! How cute is this puppy?

The background is textured card stock (of the digital variety). I put a white mat around each photo and then moved them close enough together that the lines in the middle overlap.

You can see the full blog at http://jackthegreatdane.wordpress.com/ Steve hasn’t been writing much in it, so if you have time, go over and leave him a comment. I’m sure he’d love the encouragement!

Here’s another card that I made for a swap that I’m in. This one features the new single stamp, On the Green. Since my in-laws are such avid golfers, I knew I had to get this one as soon as I saw it! You definitely want to click on the image to enlarge it, I have a whole lot of texture going on! To get just a bit of black on the stamped image, I inked up the whole stamp with Garden Green ink first. Then I used my Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker to color only the silhouette of the golfer. I colored right n top of the Garden Green, and when it stamped down, only the black showed. Pretty easy!

Stamps: On the Green
Ink: Garden Green, Basic Black
Paper: Garden Green, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Whisper White 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon

Stampin’ Up announced a great hostess special for the end of this month and all of August! More details to come soon, but August would be an excellent time to host a workshop!

Have you seen the new color coach? It is great! An absolute must have! It gives fabulous color combinations, as well as some basics of color theory. (Actually, you can download a PDF of the color theory from Stampin’ Up right here.) One of the neat things about it is that the post comes out, allowing you to add or remove in-colors as necessary, and also allowing you to organize the colors in the way that works best for you. Do you want them by Color Collection? Great! Would you rather have them in rainbow order? Not a problem. How about alphabetical? Easy as pie.

When I was planning for my Summer School card-making class last week, I found the color coach exceptionally useful. I knew that I wanted to use Melon Mambo, but I wasn’t sure what to pair it with. So I looked it up in the color coach, and it gave me two possibilities. The first was Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, and TEmpting Turquoise. Nice and summery, but I was doing flowers and I needed something for leaves. The second one was Melon Mambo, Old Olive, and Elegant Eggplant. I rarely use Elegant Eggplant, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought to pair it with Melon Mambo, but I decided to trust in the color coach and give it a try. And it came out great!

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Basic Black
Paper: Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

I’m so happy with how these colors look together! And the kids had fun making the cards too.

Three new digital downloads from Stampin’ Up, including the beautiful Broadsheet Alphabet. I have the “real” stamp set of this one too — I earned it for free! (Just another perk of being a demonstrator!) These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files.

122159 Broadsheet Alphabet Stamp Brush Set $9.95

123196 Broadsheet Accents Stamp Brush Set $5.95

122160 Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Stamp Brush Set $9.95

You can purchase these or any other digital downloads through my online store. They great news is that they are available for immediate use, with no shipping or tax! Just click on Digital Crafting, then Digital Downloads, then Newest Downloads to see all of the recent additions!

Of course these items are available “real” versions too, if you want to play with actual stamps!

p.s. Did you get the My Digital Studio color upgrade? If not, take a look at this blog post for all of the information.