Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

I favorited this card a while ago, but only recently got around to making my version of it! In fact, I don’t even think I knew Krystal when I added it to my favorites on Splitcoast! Funny how life works!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Early Espresso 
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper
Other: Top Note Bigz Die, Early Espresso 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon

Quite a few items on this card will be gone after May 31st. Be sure to order  Upsy Daisy,  Early Espresso 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, and the Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper (which is currently on sale) before it is too late!

I love the Mixed Bunch stamp set and the matching blossom punch, so I was super excited this morning when I saw that there is a digital kit featuring these products! These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files, which is most graphics programs, and even Microsoft Word! (Clicking on the pictures will take you right to the store to purchase these downloads.)

Don’t have My Digital Studio? You can download a free trial of My Digital Studio Express. Head over to my online store, add the free My Digital Studio Express trial (item 129600) to your online shopping cart. Once you check out, you will be able to download it and install it. You can see all of the artwork that is included with the Express version here. For more information about this free trial, click here.

Download includes:
* 16-piece stamp brush set

Features:
* Block of birthday text and imagery with pieces broken apart for digital versatility

Download includes:
* 11-piece stamp brush set

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Beach grunge imagery great for travel or teen projects

129359 Mixed Bunch Digital Kit $7.95

Download includes:
* 6-piece stamp brush set
* 4 Designer Series Paper patterns
* 1 punch
* One-page 8″ x 8″

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Includes digital version of traditional Mixed Bunch Set and coordinating Blossom Punch
* Brand new coordinating Designer Series Paper patterns

Coordinating colors:
Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla

129597 Thank You Block Party Stamp Brush Set $7.95

Download includes:
* 14-piece stamp brush set

Features:
* Block of “thank you” text and imagery with pieces broken apart for digital versatility

129017 Washi Delightful Digital Tape $2.95

Download includes:
* 12-piece stamp brush set

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Downloads automatically into “Delightful Digital Tape” folder for easy accessibility with all your tape in one easy location

Coordinating colors:
Basic Gray, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Sahara Sand

129016 You're My Type Stamp Brush Set $3.95

Download includes:
* 7-piece stamp brush set

You can purchase these or any other digital downloads through my online store. (Clicking on the pictures above will take you there as well.) The great news is that they are available for immediate use, with no shipping charges! Just click on Digital Crafting, then Digital Downloads, then Newest Downloads to see all of the recent additions! If you registered your copy of My Digital Studio, you may also receive end-of-the month emails from Stampin’ Up featuring that month’s digital releases.

There is a My Digital Studio tab to the top right hand corner of this blog. It is a handy reference to a variety of My Digital Studio resources, including a list of all of the downloads and a break down of the printing costs. There is also a Resources page on MyDigitalStudio.net that includes an MDS Catalog. It shows all of the MDS software artwork (contained in the boxed-version) and downloads from the October 2009 launch through January 4, 2012! The catalog gives a snapshot of the entire product line with artwork thumbnails followed by product details, which includes the colors of the designer papers! Because MDS is regularly coming out with new artwork, the catalog will be updated every month.

Here’s another card I made for the Stampin’ Addicts birthday swap. I knew I wanted to use my Not Quite Navy striped ribbon for this, so I used my Color Coach to help pick out the other colors. The bear is stamped on Naturals White cardstock, and colored in with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons. The balloon is stamped on Pumpkin Pie cardstock, cut out, and popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Stamps: Beary Best Friends, Beary Nice Wishes
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Not Quite Navy
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Naturals White
Other: Not Quite Navy Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Top Note Bigz Die, Stampin’ Dimensionals

If you are wondering about the shape that the bear is on — it’s a trick with the Top Note Die! You run your cardstock through the Big Shot on the Top Note Die as usual. Then take your cardstock and rotate it 90 degrees on the Top Note Die, and run it through again. Voila! You get this cool shape!

My brother’s birthday was early this week, and since I was giving him a gift card, I thought it would a great time to learn how to make the Top Note Gift Card Holder. I used the great tutorial over on Dannie Grave’s blog. It was super easy and came out really cute. I used a tiny dab of Dotto repositional adhesive in the lower right hand corner to keep it closed until he opened it.

Here’s what it looks like when you open it up to reveal the gift card:

Stamps: Delightful Dozen
Ink: Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Peach Parfait, So Saffron
Paper: Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper
Other: Top Note Bigz Die, Word Window Punch

I am definitely going to use this gift card holder idea again. I love how it came out!

What a fun color challenge from ColourQ this week! It’s black, white, and one other color of your choice!

I used a picture from last New Year’s Eve, and chose Melon Mambo as my third color. My title is a play on words, since my daughter’s name is Eve. It was New Year’s Eve, and she IS New Year’s Eve!! Yes, I love bad word plays. They make me chuckle.

The background paper is from the digital version of the Night & Day Designer Series Paper. Many retired papers are still available digitally. This one is gorgeous for black and white.

(Oh, and that’s sparkling apple juice in her glass, just in case you were wondering…)

One of my colleagues at work is having some pretty significant surgery over break, and I know a lot of people are pitching in to help her out. I figured in light of this that she might need some thank you notes. I asked her what her favorite colors were, and she told me jewel tones in blue, green, & purple. So I made her a pack of thank you notes based on that, four each of three designs.

Here’s a look at each one separately.

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Brights Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Pear Pizzazz Poly Ribbon, 1″ Square Punch, Top Note Bigz Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Scallop Oval Punch, Punch windows Mover & Shapers Die, Big Shot

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Regals Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Top Note Bigz Die, Scallop Oval Punch, Punch Windows Mover & Shapers Die, Big Shot

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Night of Navy, Garden Green
Paper: Garden Green, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Regals Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Night of Navy Satin Ribbon, Top Note Bigz Die, Scallop Oval Punch, Punch Windows Mover & Shapers Die, Big Shot

The Night of Navy Satin Ribbon is retired, but you might want to keep an eye on the Clearance Rack. Retired ribbon has been showing up often.

Run, don’t walk, over to Stampin’ Up’s Clearance Rack!! There are amazing deals to be had on punches, ribbon, Big Shot dies, even the Watercolor Wonder Crayons! Here’s an important tip — to be sure to choose “Show All” from the drop down menu on the right. Otherwise you will miss the last few pages of goodies. Happy shopping!

We gave out Tootsie Rolls for Halloween. Or tried to, at least. Not a lot of trick-or-treaters came by, leaving us with a lot of Tootsie Rolls. We donated some to Operation Gratitude at school, and I figured the rest could be used for crafts. As I was thinking about how to use them, I remembered these super cute Top Note Owl Bag Toppers that were all the rage about three years ago. I decided it was time to bring them back!

Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Top Note Bigz Die, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, 1/2″ Circle Punch, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Small Cello Bags

This little owl is so cute, I almost feel bad eating the Tootsie Rolls. Almost.

It’s funny, because when I first saw it, I really did not like the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper, but the more I use it, the more I love it! When I saw this gorgeous quilted card by Rita, I knew I wanted to make my own as well.

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party
Paper: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper
Other: Scallop Oval Punch, Punch Windows Movers & Shapers Die,  Top Note Bigz Die, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon

I love how rich and textured this came out!

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog over the weekend! as I promised during the hop, I have a combo tutorial for you today — how to enlarge your Matchbox AND how to create an easel for it as well. First of all, you need Stampin’ Up’s Matchbox Bigz XL Die. (If you don’t already have this, read to the end for a special offer.) This is what the final project looks like:

The to create the regular matchbox bottom, you need a piece of cardstock that is approximately 6″ x 5″. This creates an adorable box that is unfortunately about an inch to short to hold a gift card. To compensate for this we are going to start with a piece of card stock that is just a bit larger than 7″ x 5″. Fold this in half so that your folded piece is now 3 1/2″ x 5″. Place this on the Matchbox die so that the folded edge is towards the middle of the die, and the two open sides are just at the edge of the cutting line. (Thank you to Carmen for the original tutorial on this.)

Run this through your Big Shot as usual. When you take it out, unfold the piece that you cut. It should look like this:

Fold on all of the score lines, and put it together just as you would a regular Matchbox. As you can see your final project is slightly larger than a regular Matchbox, and can now hold a gift card!

The next step is to create a cover and the easel. For the cover you want to start with a piece of cardstock that is 6 1/2″ x 3 3/4″. Score this on the long side at 3/4″,  2 7/8″, 3 5/8″, and 5 3/4″. (Have I mention recently how much I love my Simply Scored? Love it!!)

Next you need to create a base for the easel mechanism. Start with a piece of cardstock that is 2 1/8″ x 4 3/4″. Score it on the long side at 1 7/8″ and 3 3/4″.

Now fold under the piece that is 1 7/8″ and glue it to the underside of the cover. Next fold up the bottom part, so it is touching the top. (Is this too confusing? Do I need a video?)

Create your focal point image and attach it to a mat that is 2 1/8″ x 3 3/4″. The top of this mat is then glued on to the folded up part of the easel mechanism. (Are you still with me here?)

Now fold the cover on its score lines and fold into a sleeve for the matchbox. For the final step, attach something to the cover that will catch the end of the easel and prop it up. Here I used a little cut out coffee cup on a Stampin’ Dimensional.

I hope this tutorial was helpful. I welcome your questions and comments!

Oh, right, the special offer! From now through October 31st, I am offering free shipping on any order that includes the Matchbox Bigz XL die. Send me an email for complete details. And don’t forget! If you join my team of Craft Therapists before the end of October, you can get either a FREE Big shot or $100 worth of the Stampin’ Up products of your choice. Click here for more details.