Wednesday, July 28, 2010

He needs cool cards too:


I decided to spin off of the usual origami shirt card and created this vintage inspired dress shirt card. The background is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and the collar buttons are from the Vintage Trinkets. The tie itself is made from 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon and held in place with glue dots. "Happy Birthday" comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes (which by the way, I love this stamp set. I know I have a quote for every occasion).

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Stamp Press Embossing


This technique came from a sample I saw from a convention swap. For this pin example I used 3 butterfly punches glued together with Tombow. Then I embossed 4 layers of clear embossing powder. While the embossing is still warm, press a stamp into it. For this one I used the "xoxo" from "Define Your Life." Leave the stamp in place for a minute while it cools. Remove the stamp and rub shimmer paint on top to reveal your stamped image. I then embellished it with a few rhinestones for some extra bling.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Designer Flower Brads as Charms

I was trying to come up with more ways to use my Simply Adorned jewelry and other SU products. This necklace was one idea I came up with. Using a few brads from the Designer Flowers, I attached them with some charm rings I already had. I think it adds just a little something extra to the chain and makes it a bit more feminine.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Owl-standing!!

It's official, I'm in love with the owl punch! There are a million ways to alter this adorable punch and I'm out to find them all. Here are a few more that I have made. The babies have hemp thread hair, the witches' broom is made with the jewelry tag punch, and the angel wings are the butterfly punch. Enjoy.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bride & Groom Owl Punches


I decided to jazz up my owls a bit and dress them for a wedding! His buttons are made from Crystal Effects and hers are tiny pearls. Her skirt is made from Crochet Trim- Victoria. I've had so much fun making different themed owls with this punch. It's just too darn cute. Check back as I will be posting more owls soon!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Simply Adorned Holiday Set 1x1

I decided to start creating a Holiday themed gift set today for my Simply Adorned charm. I will also be working to create additional holiday inserts for St. Patrick's, Easter, and Thanksgiving. I experimented a lot with layering and I'm now in love with my white Stayz On ink! I'm also loving my clear mount stamps. Having the ability to see through the blocks on these tiny squares is essential. I can't imagine having to guess about placement with the wood blocks or trying to use a Stamp a ma Jig for something so small.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

MDS Marker Box Covers

Using the template for creating clear stamp covers I created a cover for marker storage. You can store 10 markers in 1 clear mount case. This allows me to keep the markers sorted by color group. It could also be modified to store them by color family, i.e. reds, blues, etc.

 Clear Mount Case Cover How-To (using My Digital Studio):

1. Open an 8 ½ x 11 project in MDS.
2. Insert a square punch. Alter the size to 1 ½ x 5 ½ . Place this at the top left of the page. This will be your header background.
3. Change the color of the header to whatever you like. For stamp covers I use the new Pear Pizzaz. For marker cases I use a shade from the color group. You can use DSP or anything you like.
4. Download a copy of the SU logo from the Demo site. Crop it down to just the logo without the white border in your photo program and save it. Insert the image to your project. Once it has been inserted, size it to an approximate width: 36 x height: 20. (This will depend on how your image was cropped) You can do this by right clicking over the picture and choosing Edit Object.
5. Copy and paste the Logo. Rotate one of them 90°. The rotated image is placed where the spine of the cover is on the left just below the header. The other is placed on the header at just over ¾ of an inch.
6. To make the tag line below the logo, insert a text box. Change the color to Early Espresso. (note: This will be the text color for the entire cover.) Change the font size to 5. After typing the words “inspire. create. share.” hold the Alt key and press 0153. This will give you the ™ symbol. If this does not work on your computer, go to Insert>Symbol and find it on the list. Now just center the box below the SU logo.
7. Insert another text box. Drag it down towards the bottom of the page. This will be your stitched line. It should run from ¾ inch to 5 ¼ inches. To make the stitch I just used the – symbol with a space between. (Example: - - - - - - -) Change the color of the line to Early Espresso. Move the line to 6 ¼ inches.
8. Add a square punch. Change the size to 20 x 20. (use the directions given above for changing image size). Change the color to Early Espresso. Move the box below the stitched line to just shy of 4 inches from the left.
9. Insert another text box. Change the size to 14. Enter the number of stamps in your set. Change the text color to white. This text will be centered over the box created in the previous step to create the “set of” number.
10. Insert another text box. Change the font size to 5 and the color to Early Espresso. Type in “Set of” and move the text to the left of the box created in the previous step.
11. Insert another text box. Using the default size 12 font type in 3 _ symbols. It would look like this: ___ Rotate the image 90°. Move the image to the left of your “Set of” text.
12. Insert another text box. Use the default font size 12 and change the color to Early Espresso. Type in the name of your stamp/marker set. Move this to the header. Copy and paste the text. Rotate it 90°. Move the rotated text to the spine of the insert on the left of the page.
13. Now you just insert stamps (or circle punches for markers). To make the small images on the spine, insert the stamp/punch, resize it. Rotate stamps 90°. Arrange them how you like and print. (Set your printer margins to the smallest allowed. For most computers you can set all the margins to 0 and it will adjust to the smallest possible).

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Simply Adorned Charms 1x1

I decided to make a few inserts for my Simply Adorned charm last night. After several failed attempts to create something I liked, I decided to change my way of thinking. Rather that using all small stamps that fit on the the square, I used larger stamps and let them run off the edges. The purple flower background was made with the larger and smaller stamps from "Punched Poises." The bird with the branch is from "Bird on a Branch" and "Season of Friendship." The red flower is "Season of Friendship." The butterfly is "Flight of the Butterfly" and "Define Your Life." The owl is embossed and "It's the Thought." I can't wait for my order to arrive so I can embellish these with tiny rhinestones and pearls!

***UPDATE***

I received my "bling" this week and added a few touches to a couple. The one on the left also sparkly from Smooch Spritz. Here they are now:

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Crystal Effects Pin

After attending a class to make pins using crystal effects, I decided to give it a try on my own. This is one I was really happy with. I used the Punched Posies set. I used markers to "paint" the flower and then sprayed it with Smooch Spritz to give it sparkle (purple and teal has become one of my favorite color combos). I then coated it in Crystal Effects. I think the flower brad in the center makes it feel more like real jewelry than just a paper craft. I'm looking forward to my order arriving as I have several other ideas for pins like this.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Storage Solutions

I've been on a mission to get all my stampin' things organized. Today I ran across a couple ideas worth sharing-

* I found a marker case that works much like the one from SU. For those who have retired markers or purchased them separately, this case would be a great option: http://www.rexart.com/product9407.html 
* Another alternative is to use the new clear mount storage cases from SU. For $4.95 for 4 cases you can hold 40 markers (10 to a case). It's a nice way to keep each color group separate.

My last idea is for the embossing folders. I wanted a way to store them that also allowed me to see what I have. I had been keeping them in plastic pockets, but it's horrible to dig through when you are trying to be creative. So, I came up with the idea to purchase clear plastic sleeves to put them in. The sleeves are like the ones used for baseball cards, only these have two 5x7 pockets. This will allow me to keep the embossing folders in a binder that I can flip through. I will be posting pictures of the final product once all the supplies arrive. And of course, I have already created my binder cover in MDS. 

Sunday, July 4, 2010

First order from the new catalog

I just placed my first order from the new catalog. SO EXCITING! I will be waiting for the big brown truck with great anticipation! Here are a couple things that I just had to have:

new punches (the owl is TOO cute)
In Color markers (these are colors super trendy and fabulous)
rhinestones and pearls (everything is better with a little bling)
clear block caddy (I'm in luv with the new acrylic mount stamps)

With all my new goodies arriving soon you can expect to see a lot of new posts. You will find plenty to feed your creative senses.

 p.s. Don't you love my new header?! I made it with MDS.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

MDS Clear Mount Stamp Inserts

So, I decided to dive in and use my MDS software! Since I recently converted all my wood mount stamps to clear, I wanted to create a cover that would look like the one from SU. I was able to create something that looks nearly identical- down to the logos and trade mark symbols. For stamps sets already in the program, I can insert the images directly and print them out. For sets not in MDS, I printed the blank inserts you see on the right with only the name listed. These inserts will be stamped with the actual stamps. The trick is to use the large acrylic block. You can mount the entire set at one time! It's so quick and easy!