Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

It’s the second week of the same Seize the Birthday sketch, which means it needs to be a masculine birthday card this week.

I just got the second photopolymer set from Stampin’ Up — the sayings are a little edgier than the regular Stampin’ Up fare. It is called Bombs Away Birthday (not the best timing, right?) and the words “Happy Birthday” are in a little bomb shape. I didn’t really want that on my card, but I found that it was easy enough to use my 1 1/4″ Circle Punch to make it a circle instead.

Stamps: Bombs Away Birthday
Ink: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green
Paper: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper
Other: Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon, Ovals Collection Framelits, 3/4″ Circle Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch

Don’t forget — the retiring accessories are selling out quickly. Be sure to get your favorites before they disappear!

Happy Thursday! I have another double challenge for you today. This one uses the fabulous new sketch from Chic Challenges and the great color combo from Nacho Average Challenges.

It has been a very long time since my Thoughts & Prayers stamp set as seen any ink. I have a sneaking suspicion that this my end up on the retiring list when it is released next week. I love this gorgeous tree so much, I just had to use it!

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Midnight Muse
Paper: Midnight Muse, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper
Other: Old Olive Dotted Scallop Ribbon

What are your predictions for the Retiring List? It will be announced on April 24th, and you will have until June 3 to purchase your favorites.

It’s week 2 of the Seize the Birthday sketch, and I had so many nice compliments on the Happy Hour birthday card that I made last week, I decided to just change the colors and do it again!

I used the same stamp sets and the same pack of Print Poetry Designer Series Paper.

Stamps: Happy Hour, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Bitty Banner Framelits

I love this Print Poetry pack of paper. The designs are just fabulous, and so very versatile.

By the way, if you had meant to sign up as a demonstrator with Stampin’ Up to get the great deal during Sale-a-Bration, but never got around to it, good news for you! You can still sign up and get those same benefits until March 31st! Message me for more info on this great deal.

I needed one more wood-themed card to send out as part of the rewards for my husband’s Kickstarter project. (A HUGE thank you to those of you who supported this and helped make it possible!) The oval stamp from Best of Birthdays looks like it could be a carved wooden sign, so I started from there. I also wanted to use Gumball Green, because I haven’t used it much lately.

Stamps: Best of Birthdays
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Gumball Green
Paper: Gumball Green, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: Wide Oval Punch, Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon

Now off to go make 19 more of these to send off as part of the Kickstarter rewards.

Nacho Average Challenge posted a sketch yesterday that THEY said was easy, but it looked pretty tricky in its simplicity. But then I had a great idea, and it turns out it was easy after all! And I managed to do it in the Dynamic Duo colors for the week, too! Ha!

To start this card, I looked at my really big stamps. The Tool Shed stamp jumped out at me right away. I realized that I could make a thank you note with it for my husband to send to some of the people who have been supporting his Kickstarter Project. It all came together from there. The gold embossing is a little hard to see on the Soft Suede cardstock, but in real life it looks subtle and elegant.

Stamps: Tool Shed, Wood Grain, Basic Label Single Stamp, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Soft Suede, VersaMark
Paper: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Other: Apothecary Accents Framelits, Gold Brads

Steve’s Kickstarter Project is at 51% with 11 days to go. He is trying to build a woodworking studio to honor his grandfather’s memory. Can you take 3 1/2 minutes to watch the video? Any help you can give would be amazing. Kickstarter is all or nothing, so every dollar counts. Thanks so much!

As many of you know, my husband is a woodworker. (You can see his Kickstarter project here.) He was looking for some software to use to design a Farmhouse table that he is planning on building, as soon as the project is finalized. I realized that the My Digital Studio software would be perfect, because he can use the punches to create the images of the boards that he needs! Here is what he came up with:

As you can see, it is going to be a gorgeous table!It is amazing to me all of the different uses that My Digital Studio has! Even he was surprised how easy this was to do with MDS2!

If you can take a minute and help us spread the word about his Kickstarter project, I would be really grateful.  Facebook, Twitter, email — we are trying to reach as many potential backers as possible. Thanks for your help!

Wow! I can not believe that today is my 17th wedding anniversary! How could the time go so quickly?

As I may have mentioned before, my husband is an avid woodworker, and has lately been pursing it more and more. (See his Kickstarter Project here.) So of course, the anniversary card that I made had to include woodworking! I pulled out my Hearts Collection Framelits, and this is what I came up with.

Stamps: Tool Shed, Memorable Moments, Oh Whale (heart)
Ink: Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Other: Hearts Collection Framelits

I do love making shaped cards with Framelits! I think that the colors and the stamps keep it pretty masculine looking, even with the scallops on the outside heart.

One of the announcements out of Stampin’ Up Leadership this week was a card kit designed specifically for men. It comes with everything they need to get started — cards, ink, and already mounted stamps. You can see it all in this super cute video from Stampin’ Up.

The kit contains:

* Four wood-mount stamps (double-mounted) with the perfect sentiment for every occasion
* Twelve 4″ x 6″ postcards in four different (manly) colors
* Twelve gray envelopes
* A Basic Gray Classic Stampin’ Pad
* An instructional guide (for the most novice stamper!)

You can purchase it through my online store.

And now back to helping the man in my life pursue his dream with his Kickstarter Project.

Such a fun sketch from Retro Sketches this week! Look at that great edge on the left!

My first thought on that edge was to use one of the Adoring Accents Edgelit dies. But then I realized that Bandstand Simply Scrappin’ Kit had chevron card stock stickers in exactly the colors that I wanted, so I used those instead.

Stamps: Word Play
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pool Party
Paper: Pool Party, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: Bandstand Simply Scrappin’ Kit, 3/4″ Circle Punch

I haven’t bought a Simply Scrappin’ Kit in quite awhile and I had forgotten what a great deal they are! They come with 3 12″x12″ sheets of card stock stickers (all different), 6 sheets of 12″x12″ double-sided patterned paper (3 each of 2 designs), and 8 sheets of 12″x12″ card stock (2 each of 4 colors).

Did you know that you can know by the stamps from the Word Play set individually? Yep! Get just the sayings that you want! How great is that?

Fabulous colors from Nacho Average Challenge this week! They are fun and masculine at the same time.

In fact, they are so fabulous, that I somehow managed to use these exact colors in the second birthday card that I made for Steve last week, and had not posted on my blog yet! Not only that, but it is spot on for The Paper Players challenge this week as well! Maybe I should go buy some lottery tickets or something…

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, Island Indigo
Paper: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, In Color 2011-2013 Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Pennant Punch, Island Indigo Baker’s Twine, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Wood Grain Texture Impressions Embossing Folder

I sponged a little Early Espresso ink over the wood grain to make it stand out more. I hope that is okay for the color challenge