Introducing... Snow Swirled!!

I am so excited to present the newest Collector's Club!



For the month of October, we are featuring the Snow Swirled Set! It is a beautiful set and I've had a lot of fun creating these cards... I've been ready to start Christmas cards for awhile now- I always seem to be doing mine at the last minute so this year I thought I'd start a little early!

Here are closeups of each of the cards we will be making:







Collector's Club: Snow Swirled Edition

Cost: $35.00


Get a head start on your Christmas cards! We will make 10 cards (2 each of 5 designs) with one stamp set. The best part? Everyone gets to take the set home with them! For this edition, I chose the Snow Swirled set. Out of all the Christmas sets I've seen this year, this one is my favorite! I chose Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke, Kraft, and Confetti White for my color scheme. I used a variety of different techniques for these cards... Lots of heat embossing and glitter! I always think that's fun so I hope the people who attend do too!


It should be a fun one! If you are interested, check out my Stampin' Up website or email me!

-tessa

Some Cards

Just thought I'd pop in and share some cards I've made recently... I am going to be crafting with my Mom and Sister tomorrow! Should be fun! We are going to get a head start on Christmas cards!!

Happiness Blooms Card



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up! unless noted

Stamps: Eastern Blooms set; Heard from the Heart set
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Cameo Coral, and Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, and Pink Pirouette card stock; Bella Rose DSP
Other: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Stickles(by Ranger)

I am really happy with the Eastern Blooms stamp set. It seems to have so much potential! For my focal point on this card, I stamped 2 large flowers with Pink Pirouette ink on Whisper White card stock. I stamped a Cameo Coral flower on a scrap piece of Whisper White card stock and cut it out. I added it to the center of the first piece using a Dimensional pop dot to pop it up. Then I matted the piece in Kraft card stock. For the background, I cut a piece of the Kiwi Kiss Bella Rose DSP to fit my card front. I also cut a piece of Pink Pirouette card stock to fit the bottom part of my card front. I used the branch stamp from the set to stamp on it with Pink Pirouette ink. When it was full of the design, I adhered both pieces to a Whisper White card stock matt. I added a piece of Chocolate Chip ribbon down the seam and then adhered my focal point to the center. I stamped my sentiment along the bottom in Chocolate Chip ink and then adhered the entire piece to my Kraft card base. I really like how these colors came together!


Silly Monkey Card



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up! unless noted

Stamps: Sock Monkey set
Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad
Paper: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Confetti White, and Ruby Red card stock
Other: Silver Brads; Dimensionals: Aqua Painter

To start out, I created a card base of Baja Breeze. I then cut a piece of So Saffron card stock to fit the center of my card front. I stamped the balloon repeatedly on this piece with So Saffron ink to make a cute background paper. I also inked the edges with So Saffron ink to add a little dimension. Next I added a piece of slightly distressed (on the edges) Ruby Red card stock. After this, I started working on the little monkey! I stamped him in black ink on Confetti White card stock. I watercolored him with residual ink (left in the top of the ink case after pressing the ink pad to it). I matted this with Chocolate Chip card stock and then added it to the card front. Next, I stamped a balloon with Basic Black ink on Baja Breeze card stock and cut it out. I adhered it to the card front with a Dimensional pop dot and drew in the string with a black pen. To finish the card off, I added two silver brads to one side of the focal point and added the sentiment to the bottom of the card.

OK. I also wanted to share a card I made for a swap I joined on SCS. I originally posted about it here but ended up having to change the size because I felt bad not sending an envelope with the larger card... I just cut it around 3 of the edges so that it was a more standard size.

Gingam Bloom



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up! unless noted

Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful set
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Whisper White textured card stock; Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red card stock; Bella Rose DSP
Other: Stickles (by Ranger); Dimensionals, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend! I can't wait to have some fun card making with my mom and sister!!

-tessa

Another Color Challenge!

Yes, I know... I'm addicted to color challenges! But, for me, it is great inspiration!! This post is for the challenge that I gave Nicole at the beginning of the month. I got my inspiration this month from one of Pottery Barn's Bath line:



Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, and Pumpkin Pie were the colors I challenged her with! I've always thought they were pretty together... Here is what I came up with:

My Scrapbook Page:



I have to thank Nicole for challenging me each month to do a page and a card. With out these challenges, I probably wouldn't scrapbook as much! Hee!

Here is my card:



Goodies for both:
All by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Paper: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White card stock; Summer Fun Simply Scrappin' Kit
Other: Sticker embellishments from Summer Fun Simply Scrappin' Kit, Spiral Punch, dimensionals, American Crafts letter stickers, All Mixed Up Cricut Cartridge and Cricut Machine for title

I also used a sketch from Scrapbook Page Maps as inspiration for my scrapbook page. If you haven't checked out her book or her blog, Becky Fleck has some great sketches to try! They are my favorites and her design team rocks!

OK. Off to try my hand at Kristine's latest color challenge! Yes, I am definitely addicted to them!

Nicole's August Color Challenge

Today I finished up my color challenge Nicole sent me at the beginning of the month. I did pretty good with her colors! Here is a swatch of them:



So, we worked with Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip. Aren't they pretty together! Here is what I came up with:


A scrapbook page about my sister and her husband (please excuse my messy handwriting):



A card using the Eastern Blooms set:



I love the new Eastern Bloom set! It was first on my wish list of goodies from the new Stampin' Up! catalog. I am happy I picked it because I've been using it like crazy! I'll post some more cards later this week!

Thanks for checking out my blog!

-tessa

Ready for another Card Creation Class???

Well after the great day I had yesterday at Scrapdoodles, I am excited to show you the cards for my next class down there!! Here are the cards:

I love this paper by Kaiser...



This one is Making Memory's Animal Crackers line...



This one was inspired by my favorite part of Halloween, the candy!



I have been eyeing this transparency for soo long, I had to use it...



Here is the class information:

Where: Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg, VA
When: Saturday, September 20th, 2008
Time: 1:30pm. That gives all of us who live up North some time to get through all that traffic!!
Cost: $16.00
What to Bring: Just your basic scrapping supplies: paper trimmer, scissors, and adhesive.

Sign up by calling Scrapdoodles at 540-548-3788

Thanks to all of the ladies who joined me for my first class down there! I had lots of fun making cards with you and cropping the night away!! I hope you will all be able to make it again soon!

-tessa

Eastern Blooms Thank You!

Hi! Today I thought I'd try Kristine Werner's latest color challenge! Here is her inspiration piece:



I added Tangerine Tango to the challenge, since orange is my favorite color!! Here is what I came up with:



Goodies:
All goodies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted...

Stamps: Eastern Blooms set, Cute and Curly set
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, and Tangerine Tango card stock; Basic Gray textured card stock
Ink: Tangerine Tango and Basic Black Classic ink pads
Other: Brad and black ribbon by American Crafts; dimensionals

I really have fun playing along with Kristine's color challenges! They are very popular and part of the fun is looking through all the other great entries!! Check them out if you get a chance!

-tessa

A Great Day for Cards!!

I am looking out my window as I post this morning and the sky is blue with little pillowy clouds in it. I can't wait to take the girls out to play! I love it when it is so pretty out!

Jeremy has been home all week and instead of having more time to create, I've had less! We've been busy doing so many other things! Today though, I've asked for a little time to create a few cards! I have my Card Creations class tomorrow at Scrapdoodles! and I have one more card to finish for the September class! Hopefully I will be able to post a sneak peak before I leave in the morning!!

Today I am posting the last 2 cards from my upcoming Collector's Club: Dreams du Jour edition class. Here they are!





The class will be held at Kristen's house in Lorton, VA. on September 13th. She is a great hostess! The cost is $30.00, which includes your own set of stamps! If you would like to join us, please send me a message and I'll get you all signed up! It should be a great class!!

OK. Off to enjoy that sunshine before it gets too hot!!

-tessa

Pillow Boxes and Gift Bags...

You can make almost anything with paper! Today I am posting a gift bag and 2 different pillow boxes decorated with stamps and patterned paper. These are a couple of projects I've made for my upcoming Collector's Club: Dreams du Jour Edition Class!!



I think they turned out pretty cute! If you are interested in learning how to make these great items, please contact me to sign up for the class! For more information, please see this post.

I'll post the rest of the projects tomorrow after the Wiggles concert! Hee! Zoey is pretty excited and can you blame her! We've been singing Wiggles tunes all week getting ready for the fun tomorrow!

I am also busy getting ready for this weekend's class at Scrapdoodles! If you aren't doing anything on Saturday afternoon, I'd love to see you there! Class starts at 1"30pm and we'll be making the cards featured in this post. Please call Scrapdoodles at (540)548-3788 to sign up!!!

Hope everyone out there is having a great week!!

-tessa

Collector's Club: Dreams du Jour Edition is Here!

I am planning another edition of the Collector's Club for Saturday, September 13th at Kristen Mattingly's house. I haven't finished all the samples yet so I'll post a couple now and the rest next week. Here are the details...

Collector's Club: Dreams du Jour Edition:
Where: Kristen Mattingly's House in Lorton, VA
When: Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 6pm.
Cost: $30.00

Please preregister and pre pay by August 25th so I have time to get all the supplies we will need.

We will be making 4 cards, 2 gift card holders, 2 gift bags with gift tags this time around. Each will feature the Dreams du Jour stamp set and the Bella Rose DSP from the new catalog. Along with all the goodies to make the items, you will receive your own premounted Dreams du Jour stamp set! As for what you will learn, we will be focusing on different watercolor techniques, glitter, faux metal embossing, faux dry embossing, and heat embossing.

Here are a couple of samples of the cards we will be making:





I've also updated my calender on my Stampin' Up! Website. Please check it out if you are interested in attending or hostessing a class!

-tessa

Bella Blooms

I signed up for a demo only swap on Splitcoast Stampers last week. It should be a fun one- I have to make 5 cards and send them to 5 different people and I get 5 back from them every month. I decided to use Bloomin' Beautiful in celebration of it making the new Fall-Winter idea book. Have you seen the new catalog yet? The new sets are great!! I linked it over there---> It is still only the PDF version; Stampin' Up! is revamping their website to get ready for online shopping.

Anyways, here is my August swap card:



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful set, Polka Dot Background
Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Parasol Pink, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron
Paper: Whisper White textured card stock; Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, and Riding Hood Red card stock; Bella Rose DSP
Others: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter

I watercolored and cut out the flower and bee. You can't see it very well but I added a popped up layer to the flower. I inked around the edges with a makeup sponge. I like the softened look it gives the card. The glitter makes it sparkle a little, too!


I want to share some pictures from last weekend, too! Zoey went on her first roller coaster at the Arlington County fair on Sunday! It was funny because the Travel Channel had on one of their roller coaster shows that morning and we had watched it. When she saw the real one, she was all pumped up to ride it! Here she is with her cousin Micah who absolutely hated it...



Here she is after her ride:



This one makes me laugh, too- Daddy just HAD to take Natalie on the giant slide...



We've been having lots of fun this summer!

-tessa

Real Red & Yo-Yo Yellow...

For the month of July, Nicole challenged me to use this as my inspiration to design a card and a scrapbook page:



From the cake, she took Real Red, Yo-Yo Yellow, and a splash of Only Orange as her main colors. Here is what I did with it:



Goodies:
All products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Dreams DuJour Set; Polka Dot background
Ink:Real Read, Only Orange, Yo-Yo Yellow, Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Yo-Yo Yellow card stock
Other: Stickles by Ranger, Dimensionals, water pen

I watercolored the butterflies and the flowers with my water pen and inks. The butterflies were hard to cut out but I'm glad I did! I love this card! Isn't the glitter pretty!

Here is a closeup of the butterflies:



I had made another card first. After I was done, I realized I've cased myself! I keep making the same card in different colors, Yikes! Here it is anyways:



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Always set
Ink: Real Red, Yo-Yo Yellow, Only Orange, Basic Brown, Versamark
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Only Orange, and Yo-Yo Yellow card stock
Others: Clear Embossing Powder, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Scallop edge punch, Dimensionals

I stamped the heart in Versamark before inking it up with the brown. That way I could emboss over it, even though it is a dye ink.

I do have a scrapbook page, too but I still have to add the pictures! I've been out of ink and time to have them printed so still it sets on my desk...

One more picture! My husbands Mom and Dad sent a package to the girls last week and this is what was inside! The girls loved them! All day suckers... only a Nana would buy, right! Hee! Here is Natalie enjoying her treat:



Hope you have a great weekend! I'm planning to spend some time making cards for a swap I joined and for the upcoming Collector's Club Class! I'll be holding one at Kristen's house on September 13th featuring Dreams DuJour set!!!

-tessa

Little Zoey in the Window?

I thought I'd share a card today since it's been a while since sharing! I've been playing with a new set that is featured as part of the hostess rewards in the new Stampin' Up! catalog. I thought it was too cute to pass up during the demonstrator preorder season! Doesn't the little girl remind you of Miss Zoey??

Here is my card:



Goodies:
All Products by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Window Dressing set and Warm Words set
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Parasol Pink, Kraft, Whisper White, and Lavender Lace card stock; Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Perfect Plum, Blush Blossom, and Pretty in Pink Classic Inks
Other: Vanilla wide grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch

I first stamped the window on Kraft paper and watercolored it with my classic ink and a water brush. Then I stamped the window on pink patterned paper and cut out the inside- I used the scallop edge punch on the drapes to give them some shape. Last, I stamped the little girl on Whisper White paper and watercolored her. I cut her out, added the background elements of my card and then popped the window up with dimensionals!

I am in the midst of planning my next Collector's Club Classes. If there is a particular set or technique you'd like to see me use, please let me know! I am up for just about anything!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

-tessa