Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

Whoo-hoo! Stampin’ Up just released some great new digital downloads! There are three different coordinating components in the Play Date line that are now available digitally as well as in real life. I am super excited to have these, as I am currently working on Eve’s first grade scrapbook. Before I show you the downloads, I want to show you a quick page I put together with them:

These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files.

121438 Play Date Designer Series Paper $4.95

123433 Play Date Embellishments $3.95

123432 Play Date Quick Accents Kit $5.95

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!

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.

I had a great workshop last week with some fabulous stampers who wanted to learn more about watercoloring. One of the items they were interested in was Stampin’ Up’s Watercolor Pencils. We made this card together to use the Watercolor Pencils along with the Blender Pens. It’s a fun and easy way to color in your stamped images.

Stamps: Pun Fun
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Bashful Blue. Whisper White, Celebrations Designer Series Paper
Other: Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pens

I had tried (unsuccessfully) to match the rocket color the Old Olive paper by blending a variety of the greens together. One of the women at the workshop was really good at blending, and found the perfect match for Old Olive by blending the Navy Blue pencul with the Mustard colored one.

I have another Stampin’ Addicts sketch challenge to share with you today. This one really highlights whatever Designer Series Paper you chose to use with it. Her is Paula’s fantastic sketch:

I was in the mood for bright colors, so I used Celebrations Designer Series Paper and made a birthday card that would be just perfect for a little boy! The cupcake is from the Sock Monkey stamp set and the “Happy Birthday” is from Look Who’s Turning.

Stamps: Sock Monkey, Look Who’s Turning
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight, StazOn Jet Black
Paper: Bashful Blue (textured), Pacific Point, Whisper White, Celebrations Designer Series Paper
Other: Real Red 5/8 inch Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Don’t you just love these colors together? I’m so happy to have Pacific Point back in our color line up!

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.

As I mentioned earlier, Eve had a spectacular year in first grade. As an end of the year treat, I baked the teachers some delicious brownies and included a card with a note from Eve. I used virtually the same layout as one of bookworm cards, but changed the focal point from the bookworm stamp to the A+ stamp.

Stamps: First Day, Nursery Letters Stampin’ Around Wheel
Ink: Real Red, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Real Red, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Real Red Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (reversed)

If you like this Nursery Letters wheel, act soon! It retires at the end of this month.

Eve finished first grade last week, and we wanted to give her a little end of the year gift. I remember my parents giving me a little something at the end of each school year. It was a nice way to mark a milestone. She has had an incredible year in first grade, going from reading only the easiest of beginning readers all the way up to chapter books. So I made her a card to show how proud of her we are! (The card is 4 1/4″ by 4 1/4″.)

Stamps: First Day
Ink: Real Red, Night of Navy
Paper: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Other: Real Red Striped Ribbon, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Modern Label Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Gold Brads

I used Eve’s school colors for the card. She loved it!

My brother and his wife are expecting their first child in about a month. I am super excited about the imminent arrival of my new nephew, and almost as excited that they picked some super fun Decor Elements with which to decorate the baby’s room! One of the great things about using these here in Southern California, is that you can decorate above the crib and the changing table without the fear of anything falling down in an earthquake. I showed you the super cute robot they put up a few weeks ago. Well, they had time to put up the rest, so I went over to take some pictures.

You can see the robot over the changing table. They also added some monkeys swinging on a vine. (Don’t forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Here’s a close up of the monkeys. I just love how they are going around the corner!

Moving on around the room, they added four animals from the now retired stamp set, Wild About You. These are done in multiple steps, since each of the colors are applied to the wall separately.  My brother said it was not as difficult as he thought it would be. He actually had a lot fun putting them up!

Here are all four of the animals. (The bird is not up yet.)

Isn’t the room adorable? I have to tell you, though, these adorable creatures are all on the Decor Elements Last Chance List, and will not be available after June 30th. The good news is that right now they are all 25% off! If you want to see a visual list, go to my website, then click on Last Chance, and then Home Decor.

This is the second card I made for the retiring colors swap. It was based on a Sesame Street card I made last November for Sesame Street’s 40th birthday. I love these muppets! The retiring colors from the Bold Brights family are just perfect for them.(Don’t worry though, I have plans to remake this card using the new colors sometime after July 1st.)

Stamps: Family Phrases
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Only Orange, Basic Black, Glorious Green, Brilliant Blue, Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1/2″ Circle Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, Small Oval Punch, Slot Punch, Crop-a-dile, Black Gingham Ribbon

I finally did it. I bought the Clear Circle Bigz Die. I put it off for a while, figuring I could always use my circle cutter. Except that I really don’t. I have a love/hate relationship with my circle cutter, and while we are trying to work the issues out, I haven’t been cutting circles. So I finally took the plunge and bought the Clear Circle Bigz Die. And you know what the best thing about it is? (Other than the fact that it is super easy to use because you just run it through the Big Shot and it cuts fabric, felt, cork, and more…) It is the perfect size to layer inside the Scalloped Circle Bigz Die! Look!

Stamps: Pony Party
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Taken with Teal
Paper: Taken with Teal, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Clear Circle Bigz Die, Big Shot, Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Two Way Glue Pen

How cute is that? And it was easy peasy to make this card for Eve’s friend Kayden’s 6th birthday this weekend! I’m so glad I finally got the Clear Circle Bigz Die!

Here’s another card I made with the super cute alien set called Greetings, Earthling. You can see the first one here. I think this one may be my favorite alien of the bunch!

Stamps: Greetings, Earthlings
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal
Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Pad

By the way, if you like the Sweet Pea Designer Series, don’t forget that it is only available until April 30. Be sure to get some while you can!