Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

My favorite Sale-a-Bration set by far is Patterned Occasions. It is cute, punny, and versatile! When I saw this adorable card by Jill Franchett, I just had to make it! I changed it a bit, since I will be making it with my after-school kids’ class, and I wanted to make sure that there was enough of the DSP. The Print Poetry pack comes in sheets of 4 1/2 x 6 1/2, with four of each design. The finished card is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″.

Stamps: Patterned Occasions
Ink: Midnight Muse
Paper: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack
Other: Natural 7/16″ Trim Ribbon, Silver Mini Brads, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Circles #2 Bigz Die, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch

I will admit that I wasn’t planning on getting the Natural Trim ribbon, but it just looked so amazing on this card! I love the Midnight Muse and Crumb Cake together.

I was in some great Stampin’ Addicts’ swaps last month, one for the Spring Catalog, and one for Sale-a-Bration. One of the Sale-a-Bration categories that I signed up for was to use the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper. And what better way to show off the paper than to make a “quilt”!

Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper
Other: 1″ Square Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon

I used my 1 inch square punch to get the exact parts of the design that I wanted. I used to think square punches were a waste, that it was easy enough to just cut out a square. I have to say though, so many things are SO MUCH EASIER with a punch! I love my square punches! (And Sale-a-Bration is a great time to fill out your punch collection!)

Happy World Card Making Day! I hope that you had the time to make some cards today. I found the time to play along with clean&simple stamping‘s World Card Making Day Challenge. This is not only their usual sketch challenge, but a color challenge as well.

I was thinking about the four boxes, and realized they would be great for three drinks plus the sentiment “3 cheers for you.” It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but I got the words in there!

Stamps: Happy Hour
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack, In Color 2011-2013 Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack
Other: 1 1/4″ Square Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Chocolate Chip Dotted Scallop Ribbon

Don’t ask me what drinks are those top two colors (Wild Wasabi & Pool Party). I have no idea. But wouldn’t mind trying them!

I love this new Happy Hour stamp set! It was the top of my wish list and is so fun! I was just in a new catalog swap over at Stampin’ Addicts, and used this for one of my groups. I made two  different versions of basically the same card, using four of the five new In Colors.

Stamps: Happy Hour
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Paper: Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Whisper White
Other: Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Apothecary Arts Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Square Lattice Textured Impresssions Embossing Folder

The second version just switches the ribbon with the sponging around the label.

Stamps: Happy Hour
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Paper: Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Whisper White
Other: Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon, Apothecary Arts Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Square Lattice Textured Impresssions Embossing Folder

Which one do you like better?

I think my favorite set in the whole new catalog is Happy Hour. It is a fun set full of cute drinks and clever sayings. We used this set to make one of the cards at Heather’s Stampin’ Up party yesterday.

Stamps: Happy Hour
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Midnight Muse
Paper: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Whisper White, 2011-2013 In Color Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack
Other: Calypso Coral Ruffled Ribbon

I am somewhat challenged when it comes to aligning images correctly, so I used the Clear-Mount Perfectly Placed Guides on one of my acrylic blocks and lined up the three drinks together. This way I could make sure that they were straight! Then I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to color in the images. It worked great!

These guides are made of cling vinyl and come easily on and off the blocks when you need them. You can match the grid lines on the blocks up to the lines on the grid paper for perfect placement of the stamps.

Can I just say that I love the new Firm Foam ink pads? Love, love, love them!! You have to get used to a lighter touch, but they offer such amazing ink coverage! They are a joy to stamp with! This card uses the new in colors and a new stamp set as well. This card is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″.

Stamps: Betsy’s Blossoms
Ink: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse
Paper: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Whisper White
Other: Gumball Green 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon

Like the ribbon? It’s not too late to join in my ribbon share and get some of your own! See this blog post for all of the details. It’s great way to get all the new ribbon!

A nice clean sketch from Pals Paper Arts for the challenge this week.

One of my good friends at work is retiring after 40 years in the classroom. Fortunately, she will still be working at school as the part-time math specialist. I couldn’t imagine it here without her! Another teacher threw a little party for her, so I used this sketch to make a card.  I used the sheet from the Just Add Cake pack of paper that looks very school-like — one side has a strip of numbers down the side, the other looks like notebook paper. I turned the sketch on its side so that the numbers would work with it.

Stamps: Perfectly Penned
Ink: Poppy Parade
Paper: Baja Breeze, Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper
Other: Champagne Glitter Glass, Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Subtles Glimmer Brad

Both the Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper and the Subtles Glimmer Brads are retiring at the end of May. Get them while supplies last!

It’s been awhile since I played along with the clean&simple challenge. I really liked this week’s sketch, and I wanted to get back into it.

I decided that square would be perfect for Clear Block stamping. That is where you put ink directly on the clear block itself to make a background for your image. I inked up Clear Block D with Pool Party ink to create this one. It doesn’t cover everything perfectly, but that’s part of the appeal of this technique. I used a Stampin’ Write Marker to ink up just the outline of the Jewish star, and not the Shalom in the middle.

Stamps: Shalom
Ink: Pool Party, Island Indigo
Paper: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Other: Clear Block D

When I went back to look at the sketch, I realized I had strayed more from it than I usually do. Oh, and I hand wrote the Mazel Tov at the bottom with my Island Indigo Stampin’ Write Marker. Don’t forget, this gorgeous Shalom stamp is only available until May 30th!

Oooooh! Another great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week! I love, love, love that circle!

I had so many ideas on what to use in this card, and that was only thinking about the sets that are retiring! Should I put the truck from Loads of Love? Or the cupcakes from Crazy for Cupcakes? In the end I decided on the perfect thing for that circle — one of the circles from Take a Spin! I combined it with some of the bright paper from Big Top Birthday to make a fun card any child would love.

Stamps: Take a Spin
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Pacific Point, Real Red, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper
Other: 2 1/2″ Circle Punch, 3″ Circle Die, Game Spinner Hands, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding

Don’t miss out on these stamps that are retiring. Take a Spin and over 200 more will not be available after the end of May. You can download the PDF, the Excel file, or view the retiring stamps in my online store.

Another fun sketch challenge from Paula over at Stampin’ Addicts this week. I like the three stripes hanging down, with their uneven ends.

When I was looking through my various papers to use for the stripes, I found this great star paper from the Big Top Birthday pack.  Then I remembered that I hadn’t even use my Stars #2 die yet! It has four different sizes of stars, just great for layering! This would be a great card for a graduation (especially if the school colors are red & white), or a variety of other occasions.

Stamps: Delightful Dozen
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper, Red Glimmer Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper
Other: Stars #2 Bigz Die

The glimmer paper gives it a “wow,” but still keeps it flat enough to mail.