Oh The Fun You Can Have... with Thinlits and Framelits

I have kind of started myself on a little mission.  It's a mission of seeing how many ways I can come up with to enjoy using our thinlits and framelits.  The answer is... there are just plain endless ways to use them to create wonderful cards and projects.  Here's a peek at the cards we'll be making at my May 16 class.  I'll have LOTS of other ideas to share with you too, very soon.

We'll actually be making 7 cards at my class.  The 2 Daffodil Delight cards in the center are just showing 2 versions of the same card.  You've seen 3 of these cards in previous posts.  I will share more about each of the others in some of my upcoming posts.  (I have 3 openings left in the class, if you'd like to sign up to join us.)  I hope these inspire you to go try some of your own creations, using thinlits and framelits.  Now go get stamping!

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world.

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Storage Tips: Framelits and Embellishments

Today's post is dedicated to my daughter, Jenn and it's all about getting organized ... with your framelits.
As you know, yesterday was Day 3 of my Work Like a Dog mission.  I accomplished so much that I want to keep going.
Something amazing has happened to my calendar and I find myself with 3 more days open, so I will continue my mission for 3 more days.
By Sunday, I'll need a good rest.  I marked off a lot of entries on my To Do list yesterday, including getting all my Framelits organized.

So, before I begin Day 4 of my Work Like a Dog mission, I'll share with you what I did.

Want to see?  But wait!!!  Before I go any further, I want to give a big thank you to my daughter, Jennifer, for designing all these cases.  I truly did not have time to deal with it right now and my storage needed help.  I told her what I needed and she took it from there.  She is a creative and wonderful person.  Thanks, Jenn!!!

OK, Here you go!  Aren't these great?  I love them!

All MDS designs are by Jennifer and copyright Stampin' Up!

To organize your framelits:

• Talk someone sweet into designing case inserts for you because you've been too busy to do it yourself.
• Have that sweet someone design them on MDS.
• Order them through our print services.
• Trim new inserts to fit the cases.
• Insert inside the plastic covering on the cases.
• Step back and enjoy ... and notice that you really have a lot of framelits:)
• Put them away.  

It will be easy to find the one you want now without having to look through every case to do it.

Tip:
I ran out of our retired Magnetic Sheets so, at the suggestion of one of my customers, I used magnets from an office supply store that were designed for business cards.  There's much less trimming to do to fit inside the cases.  Thanks for the tip, Marsha!

I wanted a way to label the cases I use for embellishments, so I had Jenn design a case insert with a place to write a different title on each one.  I store my pearls, rhinestones, paper daisies, shaker frames, etc. in these cases.  It's nice to have them all contained in easy-to-store cases.

All MDS designs are by Jennifer and copyright Stampin' Up!

All MDS designs are by Jennifer and copyright Stampin' Up!

To design each case, Jenn had to create the shapes of the framelits using various punches in the MDS program.  She put in a lot of work on this project!!!  

All MDS designs are by Jennifer and copyright Stampin' Up!

Look closely on the case above and you'll see that the arrow is pointing to a portion of the largest framelit that is actually extending outside the storage case.  The reason for this is that the largest framelit wouldn't otherwise fit inside the case.  

Jenn had my son-in-law cut an opening in the side of the case to accommodate the largest framelit.  I store my cases upright (like books) in a cabinet and there is a ton of room behind the cases, so it doesn't hurt it any to hang out a bit.

All MDS designs are by Jennifer and copyright Stampin' Up!

So, while I'm off to continue Day 4 of my Work Like a Dog mission, I hope I've inspired you to get busy and design something, create something, or organize something.  Oh, and in case you're wondering, I get like this every Spring.  I'm like Wonder Woman on crack --- or, in my case, lots of Diet Coke.  I know... I need to stop drinking so much of it.  

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Look What I've Been Making!

I've been having so much fun getting ready for the Holiday season.  I love, love, love making cards and projects for Christmas!  Today, I'm going to show you 5 cards.  Would you like to know a secret?  We'll be making all of these cards at my More Christmas, Please class on Nov. 16.  Want to see? 

These cards all have extra layers and embellishments, and rich textures from embossing --- dry embossing and heat embossing.  I tried to use a variety of colors, too --- artichoke, cherry cobbler, island indigo, crumb cake and burgundy!

Here are some close-ups of the cards.  Remember this first one?  It was designed by Lynn, one of my downline members.

This one is quite 3-D and uses some of our specialty papers.

This one also uses some of our specialty papers, along with a special concoction of mine --- a mixture of white and Iridescent Ice EP.

This one has a layer of dry embossing, as well as layers using the framelits.

I made up a special technique for this card and the envelope, giving it a brushed gold edging.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek.

But wait... there's more...

Tomorrow, I will share with you what the projects are for the More Christmas, Please class.  I can't wait to show you.  I have tags and treats and lots of fun.  See you soon!

Thanks for Your Service

I made this card for one of our church members, to thank him for his service to our country.  He is a WWII vet and is going to be taking a trip to Washington to see the memorial.  It was an honor to make this card for him.

God bless America!

Stampin' Fun/Halloween but NOT Halloween

One of the fun perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is getting to attend group meetings and other great stampin' events.  At our last meeting in Springfield, this is one of the cards we all got to make.  I like that it uses some of our Halloween DSP, but is not a Halloween card. 

It's a simple and fun layout and would be a good way to use up scraps of DSP.  I love the piercing around the framelit. 

Speaking of fun perks of being a demonstrator, this is the last week of our promotion for joining Stampin' Up! and getting the special project tray.  Contact me if you'd like to join my team.  We're Inkin' in the Land of Lincoln.

Worth the Effort

Ever since the new Holiday Catalog came out, I have wanted to make the card shown on page 19.  It's so elegant.  Here's my take on it. 

I added even 1 more layer (some Basic Black) to it, so it would work in one of my studio displays.  My other colors are Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso.  The stamp set is called Evergreen.  I could not get it to show up in the photo, but I stamped off for the tree in the background (with Crumb Cake) and then stamped over it with our new Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Stampin' Pad.  Wow!  Say that 3 times in a row:)  It adds a subtle sheen that is gorgeous in real life.

Cards like this don't just go into a normal mailing envelope.  They are hand delivered or added to a gift box.  They are for someone very special.
This card was a lot more involved than your typical Christmas card, but well worth the effort.

Sneak Peek #1: Fall Card

If you're thinking about coming to my Fun Friday Projects Class this Friday night (Aug. 24), I thought you might like a sneak peek.  All the projects will highlight products from our new Holiday Catalog.  This is one of the projects that we'll be making. 

 

This is my version of the card in the Holiday Catalog on page 28.  I used the Perfectly Preserved stamp set and coordinating framelits.  It would be a colorful card to send to any lucky recipient.  I hope you'll choose to join us Friday night.  For what we'll be making (8-10 projects each Fun Friday class!!!), the $25. is a super bargain, but how would you like to pay less?

Here's how:
Place a $15. order on the night of the class and take $5.00 off your class fee.*
Place a $20. order on the night of the class and take $10.00 off your class fee.*
Place a $25. order on the night of the class and take $15.00 off your class fee.*
Place a $30. order on the night of the class and take $20.00 off your class fee.*
Place a $35. order on the night of the class and TAKE THE CLASS FOR FREE!!!*

*TAX AND SHIPPING NOT INCLUDED / CLUB ORDERS DO NOT QUALIFY.

 

Please pay to register at least 2 days prior to the class. 

OTHER FUN FRIDAY PROJECTS CLASSES:
Sept. 28:  Fall Frenzy (notice date change) / $25.
Oct. 19:  Touch of Christmas / $25.
Nov. 16:  More Christmas, Please / $25.
Dec. 14:  Wrapping up Christmas / $25.

World Treasures

There's a stamp set in our new catalog that I just love.  It's called World Treasures.
Here's a little card I made with it.

I added dahlias to the flowers.  My colors are summer starfruit, gumball green, midnight muse and raspberry ripple -- 4 of our new In Colors.  The ribbon is a new one to go with these colors, too.  It's a stitched satin ribbon.
The little framelit works perfectly to cut out the text.
I stamped a coordinating envelope for my card.
Come back for my next post where I'll be revisiting the Comfort Cafe DSP.

Ahoy!

Here's a little note card I made using the Open Sea stamp set.
I made the background into a collage effect.
This will be one of the cards for my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet class tomorrow night. 

I stamped the focal piece and then cut it out and layered it using the framelits dies.
My ink colors are Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Crumb Cake.
Have a great day and I hope you get to do some stamping today.

Reason to Smile, Sample 2

Here's another card I made using the Reason to Smile stamp set.

I used summer starfruit, midnight muse and soft suede CS.  To add texture, I layered the focal piece using 3 graduated sizes of framelits.  I also used 2 different embossing folders to add texture to the background.
The text is from the Word Play stamp set.  I stamped images in the background of the text piece, for added interest.
I added a summer starfruit dahlia to the center of one of the flowers and a sprig of 2 stitched satin ribbons for the finishing touches.
Don't forget to check out my schedule for my next classes!

Playing in the Leaves

Today's post shows a project I made playing in the leaves.
I used the French Foliage and Perfectly Penned stamp sets.
I still cannot believe how wonderful the new ink pads are to use.
I just love them!
They really kick up your stamping several notches:)
I used a two of the framelits to set off the focal piece, along with a couple snips of more mustard and old olive ribbons.  I love the polka dots!

My ink colors:
crumb cake
soft suede
more mustard
cajun craze
pumpkin pie
old olive

... and yes, you guessed it, this will be one of the choices at my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet Class.

A Cute Little Card and Our Cute Little Critter

Here's a cute little card that was a lot of fun to make.

This is a 3 X 3" card and fits into our smallest envelopes.
I used summer starfruit for the top layer and a new embossing edgelit across the front of it.
The cute little flower is 3 layers of paper daisies, embossed 3 times each.
The little In Color Dahlia makes a great center for the flower.
Using the bitty banners framelits and coordinating stamps makes it easy to add a sentiment to any card.
A little knotted sprig of In Color stitched satin ribbon adds a nice finishing touch.

And now...
Meet our cute little backyard critter.  He has taken a liking to our bird feeder.  He tore up the first one and threw it on the ground, after chewing through a vinyl coated wire!
My husband, not one to be discouraged, replaced the bird feeder and hung it with a chain.  The squirrel just uses the chain as an easy way to climb down to the bird feeder.  He actually stretches his entire body over the bird feeder, reaches down and pulls seeds out of the hole and flings them onto the ground.  Then, he and the birds enjoy a shared snack.

These are seeds flying to the ground.

It's always fun to enjoy nature right in your own back yard.  The boys are loving it!  Well, I'm off to work in my studio.  I have a lot more to get ready for my Friday night class.  Have a great day!

Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet -- Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at one of our projects for my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet.
It's this Friday, June 29 and starts at 6:00.
You can make 3, 6 or 9 cards for $5. or $10. or $15.
Fee includes all materials except your adhesive -- even envelopes!
We have so much fun and there will be a lot of choices available, so I know you'll find just what you'd like to make.
Come join us!
Pay to register by June 28th!!!
Your payment holds your spot.

I used the Papaya Collage and Layered Labels stamp sets for my project, along with yummy new In Color stitched satin ribbons and coordinating framelits.

For this card, I chose a monogram and added some texture with the Simply Scored tool.