What a kick...

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I promise--there will be stamping--SOON!

You Belong in 1957

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Well, I saw this on everybody elses blog (though I am not usually "because everybody else is doin' it" kind of person) so I figured I would give it a go.

Well, I was born in 1969--I think I am a little behind the times--don't you think?
I never claimed to be hip!! LOL!

Swirls and Swirls

Today was quite the stamping day (don't look at the rest of my house, please) I finally got to a couple of cards that were "swirling "around in my head (pun intended).

I purchased for myself the Rhonna Ferrer Autumn Leaves "Swirls" clear stamp set. It is taking me a while to get used to them, but I am slowly getting the hang of it. Before I go on (and on, and on, and on...........) it should be noted that I did not use a lot of Stampin' Up! Products in these cards--for the mere fact I am trying to use up my other things.

{Reminder: If you click on the cards you will get a larger view}


The first card is just a fun card. It looks much better in real life (taking the picture in full sun was a bad idea). It uses the Crayon Resist technique.
Stamps: EmmyBella, RF Swirls, $ stamp from Michaels, Double-Line Doodles (orange flower) and Little Pieces (pink Flower);
Ink: Cool Caribbean, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion, StazOn Jet Black;
Paper: Glossy White, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise;
Accessories: white crayon, Brayer, Black pen, Stickles, Ticket corner punch, ribbon, 3-D glue dots;



This next card is for the wedding gift (see placemats). I just had fun embossing the white swirls, adding Stickles, and such. Only the ink and the embossing powder is SU!

Stamps: RF Swirls, $ stamp from Michaels;
Ink: Whisper White, StazOn Black, various for watercoloring, Cool Caribbean for sponging;
Paper: DP from My Mind's Eye, White;
Accessories: Stickles (diamond & turquoise), ribbon , charm, 3-D glue dots, Wavy Square die and Big Shot Die Cut Machine;




This final card is a card for an acquaintance that just lost her stepfather. My prayers for her and her mother accompany it.

Stamps: RF Swirls, Double-Line Doodles, Warmest Regards;
Ink: StazOn Black, Sahara Sand, Alabaster {chalk ink}, and various for watercoloring;
Paper: Watercolor paper, Black, Taken with Teal, Sahara Sand, DP from My Mind's Eye;
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon, ticket corner punch;

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

One of the hardest cards for me to do in a year is my mom's birthday. Don't ask me why....I can't give you a clear answer...but it is. And because it seems so difficult, I put it off, and therefore, year after year it is late.

Sorry Mom!

This year the Sketch Challenge #123 came to the rescue! I started to make a card just for the challenge using a retiring set (Pretty Princess) and by the time I was half way through, it was my mom's card. The plaid designer paper sealed the deal (my mom loves plaid--I mean LOVES it).

Card Info: (all Supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pretty Princess, I'm Here
Inks: StazOn Jet Black, various for water coloring
Papers: Watercolor paper, Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, plaid paper from KI Memories
Accessories: 1/4" square punch, ribbon &square adhesive jewels (Wal-mart), liquid glue and glitter

Thanks for looking!!

VSN Madness

Friday and Saturday was the "Virtual Stamping Night" at SplitCoastStampers. Commonly called "VSN" it is a night to stamp with friends (old and new) on the Internet. A challenge is posted by one of the hostesses at the top of the hour and participants have 45 minutes to complete the challenge. And then we post pictures of our creations. It is crazy madness, but great fun. And, for people like me--who do not get out much, a chance to stamp with others.

Here are my cards more information is available about each one-- HERE. And here are the list of challenges. I completed eight challenges. I think this is a large feat considering my husband was out of town. It was great fun!!

Yet More Placemats and Napkins

Okay, so I am addicted to stamping on fabric. I have added craft ink refills onto my next Stampin' Up! order (the little spots only have so much ink) and I walk through life looking for my next victim--um--I mean--project.

Now, I have gotten e-mails, posts, and private messages wanting more information. Really, I have told you everything I know in the last two posts (Happy Mother's Day and Aprons). The only other think I can think to tell you is how to get the craft pads "going". Some (especially spots) seem dry, well a little fine mist with water, a couple of mists if it is really dry, then take a butter knife or the back of a spoon and moosh (sorry about the technical jargon) the pad till it is visibly juicy. This only works with a fully inked pad that happens to be a little dry.

Here is my lastest project:


This set is for friend of the family's wedding. All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.
It uses the Bodacious Bouquet stamp set. The craft ink (pigment) colors I used were, Taken with Teal, Barely Banana, Regal Rose, Rose Red, and Certainly Celery. The first try at a place mat for this project, I made a mistake. So while it was still wet, I pretreated it, washed it in cold water on the gentle cycle. There were only faint traces of the Taken with Teal and Rose Red, which was fine since I had planned on re-stamping the images in the same places. You cannot tell which is the one I made the mistake on.

I would also like to share Stampin' Up!'s advice for stamping with craft ink on fabric:

Q: Does the Craft ink work on fabric?

A: Yes, you can use the Craft ink for stamping on fabrics. You'll want to educate your customers about fabric stamping, explaining that the colors are less vibrant on fabric than on paper. Also, even after heat-setting, fabric inks fade slightly. This is true not only of Craft pads but other fabric pads available in the retail market as well. For a more vibrant image, try stamping the same image twice (one on top of the other) using the Stamp-a-ma-jig®. Here are some important tips to remember when stamping on fabric:

• Prewash the fabric.
• Tightly woven and smooth-finished fabrics work best.
• Test a small area of fabric first.
• Heat-set immediately after stamping.
• Wash as normal or hand wash, but air or line dry.
• For best results, re-ink pad frequently.

Note: The Whisper White Craft pad requires very high levels of pigment to get the opaque look on paper our demonstrators and customers love. To achieve this level of opacity, we had to give up the fabric option. Therefore, the Whisper White Craft pad is not recommended for use on fabric.

Now if you have any questions, please post them here, and I will make a new post answering as many as I have the wisdom and experience to answer.

Basically my advice is to look around your house, do you have dish towels, dust cloths, t-shirts, old pillowcases, etc. that you can practice on--try it! Experiment! It isn't scary. I now know, if I mess up before heat setting, I can wash it and start over again.

If you have done a project that you have done because of what I have shown you please send me a link (julesimama at hotmail dot com--you know how to really do the address, I am just trying to avoid spam).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Mother's Day Cards

Here are the cards for my mom and my mother-in-law.

They both use Mixed Bouquet, and a sentiment from Elegant Inspirations.


My mother-in-law's card is the one with the aster-like flowers and glitter (stickles). I saw THIS card by Leslie Rich and was inspired to make my own. I have been meaning to try the out of the box technique and this was the right time. I stamped the flower on a post-it note (the sticky part) and cut it out to make the mask. The flowers and leaves are colored with Stampin' Pastels (chalks), and highlighted with glitter glue. This card uses Ivory Natural, Blush Blossom, Sage Shadow, and Close to Cocoa paper; Basic Brown and Sage Shadow Classic (dye) Ink. Besides Mixed Bouquet and Elegant Inspirations, I used Itty Bitty Backgrounds and Swirls by Rhonna Farrer (Autumn Leaves).



The pink card is for my mom. It uses Close to Cocoa, Rose Romance, and Pretty in Pink Ink; and the same colors of paper plus white. I used quite a few accessories on this card: scallop scissors, 1/16" hole punch, ticket corner punch, paper piercer, Stampin' Pastels, a brad and ribbon. The edges was fun to do--and is meant to simulate the eyelet lace that my mom puts on my little girls' dresses.

I am thirty seven years old and I am still making my mom handmade cards. (and she still puts them on her fridge-lol).

Happy Mother's Day to you!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I made these for my mom for Mother's Day. Can I just tell you how addicted I am to stamping on cloth!! I waited YEARS to try--now I don't want to stop!! I used Craft and Fluid Chalk Ink. Stampin' Up!'s Craft ink is a pigment ink. On paper it is very slow drying as the pigment sits on top of the paper. On paper this is very good for embossing with embossing powder. Fluid Chalk in (the ink I am using is made by Colorbox) is a hybrid ink that has the pigment of SU!'s craft in but is faster drying on paper--and also dries to a matte, chalk-like finish.

The rose set is using the Roses in Winter set by SU! (soon to be retired--I HIGHLY recommend this set) I used Craft Ink: Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana and Fluid Chalk ink: Olive Pastel.

The flowery set uses the SU! stamp set Mixed Bouquet. The ink is Craft Ink: Bashful Blue, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow, and Fluid Craft ink: Lavender, and Blue Iris.

I practiced on my dust rags, first. I now have the prettiest dust rags in town!!!! (My dust rags are old cloth diapers, in case you are curious) I heat set them with an iron. I used a medium high setting and a pressing cloth (to protect my iron--though it is only used for crafting) getting the fabric pretty hot. This should keep the ink from washing out in the washer. The place mats and napkins were on clearance at Wal-Mart, but they had other styles that would work, too. I want to try a table cloth next!!

You have to try this it is sooo easy and so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Aprons

For our church's "Mother and Daughter Banquet, the hostesses of each of the tables needed to decorate aprons. I was not able to make mine at the time allotted at the church so I took mine home. And this is what my oldest dd and I did. Gracie, almost 9, designed hers , herself. I helped her, but that was mainly because of time issues (and my control freak tendencies) and not because of her lack of ability. My younger dd had to have pink. I added a little yellow (so saffron) because the transfer was scorched. They were very fun, and they were also my first textile project. It certainly will not be my last! Why didn't anyone tell me they were so easy!!

I used craft ink and chalk in for all of them, except the big blossom on Gracie's is acrylic paint . I heat set them all with an iron. I will probably throw them in the dryer, tomorrow, just to be sure.

Thanks for looking and stop back again!!

Featured Stamper

I love to do the challenges on SplitcoastStampers. The get me stamping and basically give me a jumping off point. On Sunday, there is the Featured Stamper Challenge. It always is a true challenge for me for two main reasons:
1) the featured stamper is incredibly talented and it is a challenge for me to reproduce their level of work
2) I am really nervous to screw up their beautiful designs

Well, my buddies over at the challenge chat threads (Challenge Chasers) thought this was silly. Frankly, they are right. So, I decided to give it a try.

This week is a stamper that I have seen in the gallery, enjoyed her work, but didn't really pay much attention to it. My mistake! A mistake that, through this challenge, has been corrected. Her name is Alli and her SCS name is themilesmum. (click on her name to see her gallery)

Here is the card I have done my best to CASE. (Copy And Share Everything)

Here is mine:
I didn't change a whole lot. The color scheme is different (though the olive is in the same places) and none of the stamps are the same. Instead of jewels I have stickles, instead of doodling I have DTP (direct to paper).

Stamps: Happy Harmony, and So Very (SAB 2007), God's Way (Spring Mini 2006) and Everyday Flexible Phrases;

Paper: Orchid Opulence, Old Olive, Designer Paper from KI Memories, white

Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Warm Violet, Olive Pastel, Lavender, and Azurite

Tools/Accessories: Coluzzle, Corner Rounder Punch, Stickles-Diamond and Crystal

Thanks for stopping by to look--and thanks to the stalkers (you know who you are) for the push!