Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

I love the colors in this week’s Curtain Call Color Challenge. I am so happy that Wild Wasabi is back!

I thought that the soft shades of green would make a great baby card, especially for someone who didn’t know if they were having a boy or a girl. They looked so soft when paired with the Kraft, I mean, Crumb Cake. I used the new Baby Tees jumbo wheel and  inked it with Wild Wasabi. I used the Stampin’ Write Markers in Crumb Cake and Certainly Celery to color parts of it in.

Stamps: Baby Tees Jumbo Stampin’ Around Wheel
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack (Wild Wasabi)
Other: Scallop Edge Border Punch

There’s room for a sentiment in the lower right corner, but I’m not sure what exactly I use this card for yet.

I was excited when I saw this weekend’s Stamping 411 sketch challenge, since it looked perfect for a stamp set with a matching wheel!

From my first look at the new catalog, I have absolutely loved this coffee set with the matching wheel, and this was the first chance I had to ink it up! I love the sayings in it, they crack me up. Probably because they are so true! Of course I had to use Early Espresso with it — how could I not? I colored the images with the Stampin’ Write Markers so the Early Espresso wouldn’t run. Here is what I came up with.

Stamps: Morning Cup, Take a Sip Stampin’ Around Wheel
Ink: Early Espresso, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Sweet & Sour Specialty Designer Series Paper
Other: Early Espresso 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon

I bought Morning Cup in the clear mount and it was so easy to line up the steam and the saying with the cup! Love my clear mount sets!

This project was created by Samantha Alvarez, who I am fortunate enough to have in my down line. She gave me permission to share it with you.  She was asked to create a scrapbook page as a project for an upcoming workshop.  All of the guests will be creating their own 6″ x 6″ page, but she also wanted to show them how it can be used as a larger page as well. Her lucky hostess will get to keep the stepped up page!

This is the 6″ x 6″ page that everyone will be creating together. How cute is this? Can you just picture an adorable 6″ x 6″ album with all of the First Day of School pictures?

Stamps: First Day
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch

This is easily incorporated into an 8 1/2″ x 11″ page, if that is the size you prefer to use, with room for two more pictures.

Stamps: First Day
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch

Finally, but putting it on a 12″ x 12″ page, there is room for journaling.

Stamps: First Day
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Other: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch,Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch, gold brads, dimensionals

How cute is that? What a great example of a progressive scrapbook page! A big thanks to Samantha for letting me share it here.

My friend Heather hosted a shoebox swap last month, where everyone brought projects to share. It was so much fun! Melissa used the milk carton die on acetate and cut out the cutest little milk cartons! I was excitedt o use the new Got Treats set on mine.

Stamps: Got Treats
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Mini Milk Carton Bigz L Die, Scallop Rectangle Clearlit, Big Shot, Real Red 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon

One is filled with gummy bears, and the other with M&Ms. How cute are these for little party favors?

I’ve been teaching a summer school class on rubber-stamping and card-making to elementary school kids this week. It is super fun and lets me experience the joy of beginning stampers all over again! Do you remember that moment when you looked at your first card and went, “Wow! I made that!” ? Today I am bringing in the Big Shot and letting them die cut and dress some paper Build-a-Bears. Have you ever seen an 8-year-old run something through a Big Shot? Sheer joy!

This is a card I made for last weekend’s Stampin’ Addicts’ Iron Stampers Throw down. It combines two of the challenges — Throwdown Challenge #3: Hit me with Your Big Shot! (use the Big Shot at least three ways) and Iron Stamper Challenge – 8 PM – Secret Ingredient: School Days. I used some of my new dies and paper!

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Beary Dressy Originals Die, Bear Bigz Die, Beary Bright Sizzlet, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot

I think I’m going to have to save this for Eve’s first day of school card. Hopefully I’ll remember…

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

Stampin’ Up has just released 4 more fabulous digital downloads. These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files.

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 paper!

Now that we are two weeks into the new Stampin’ Up catalog, I bet you’ve been asking yourself when the fun new colors would be added to My Digital Studio. Well ask no more, because they are here! And free! And you don’t lose any of the previous colors! It’s just win win! With this free update, not only will you get the latest My Digital Studio features and functionality, you also get all of the new colors (including digital card stock, ink colors and Patterns Designer Series Paper) from the recent color renovation!

So here are your instructions:

First you need Stampin’ Up’s fabulous digital crafting software, My Digital Studio. If you already have it, great. If not, then you want to go order it.

Next, make sure that you have the latest update. You need to update it before you install the colors. If you never, ever, ever updated it, go here and download the 1.0.1 update. Follow the instructions, then come back. Start up My Digital Studio on your computer. Now, go under the help menu to “Check for Updates,” and let the computer update.

When it is done updating, head over to the updates page, where you will want to download the new colors! You need to download each one, and then install them all by opening each file.It should be pretty easy to figure out, but if you hit any snags, please contact me and I’m happy to help you figure it out.

Here’s another card I made for yesterday’s Stampin’ Addict’s challenges. The theme was birthday, and I decided to use this super cute new stamp set in the Build-a-Bear line. I’ve been making a lot of baby boy items lately, but I really wanted to use this gorgeous new In-Color ribbon, so this one is a girl. This ribbon is awesome! It is so soft and pliable. Expect to see a lot more of it!

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake
Paper: Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Other: Blushing Bride Stitched Poly Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Big Shot

I love the dotted white background. It is so delicate and baby-like to me. Too bad everyone I know is having baby boys…

There’s a lot of fun going on over at Stampin’ Addicts today, including hourly creative challenges. I’ve been playing along this afternoon, and having a lot of fun! One of the challenges was “birds.” I was excited to use my new Two-Step Bird punch. Although it has been available for a while, I only just bought it, mostly because there is a Level 1 hostess set in the new catalog with a stamp that matches it! (And you know I love stamps that match punches!) But I didn’t use that set on this card. Actually, I didn’t use any stamps on this card!

Stamps: none
Ink: none
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Newsprint Designer Series Paper
Other: Two-step Bird Punch, Clear Circle Bigz Die, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Big Shot

As soon as Eve saw it, she said it would be the perfect card for Mrs. Nevin, her music teacher. She’s absolutely right!

As soon as I saw the Level 1 Hostess Set in the Summer Mini Catalog, and the “Sorry I was crabby” stamp, I needed to have it! It’s been sitting on the shelf for awhile, so I decided to break it out with some new colors. Like that scalloped rectangle? It’s the new clear Sizzlet. Super fun! Since the Watercolor crayons aren’t available yet in the new colors, I watercolored with the ink pads. (Click on the picture so you can see the expression on the crab’s face!)

Stamps: It’s the Thought
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Watercolor Paper
Other: Scallop Rectangle Clearlit, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz

I added the extra flecks to the Crumb Cake paper (the card stock formerly known as Kraft) with the Log Cabin Smooch Spritz. I recommend spraying it on scratch paper first so that you get a feel for how it comes out. And definitely use the Color Catcher or something, it has a wide spray!