Friday Free-for-All is tomorrow!

I have a few seats open for tomorrow's Friday Free-for-All. Please let me know ASAP if you'd like to come!

Friday, January 29th 5:00-7:00 PM (open house)
Cost: $5, +$5 for Big Shot & dies
Time needed: varies
Seats: 6

This monthly event is your chance to work on...whatever! That scrapbook you've been meaning to get to, those cards you'd like to make but never seem to have the time, those unmounted sets you'd like me to assemble with you, that special project you'd like a little help with. Bring your own stamp sets and consumables (cardstock, ink, adhesive, etc.), but my tools (paper cutter, punches, scissors, etc.) will be available for your use. I will be available to help you with ideas, designs, etc., and it's always more fun stamping with friends than stamping alone, right?!

Super-quick cards

Do you like to make cards and usually enjoy the (sometimes slow) creative process, but at times wish you could whip out a card in 10 minutes or less? You know, you're about to run errands and would like to mail a birthday card, but you're pressed for time and need it done FAST. Well, i've found that Designer Series Paper is the way to go in situations like these. It really takes the guesswork out of color choices, and if you fill most of the card front with DSP, you don't need to do much stamping.

Here are a few examples. You might notice that they are very similar in color scheme. That's because i used the SAME sheet of DSP; since it's double-sided, it was very easy to just flip it over to create a different look without coming up with a whole new layout. Any time i can cut out a few design desisions, it always saves time.




Both of these cards were made awhile ago, so they use several items which are now retired. But they can still give you the idea of how to make super-quick cards! They each took me about 5-10 minutes to make, start to finish.

Saved my favorite for last!

This was the last card i made on the day when i spent so much time doing emboss resist and brayering ink. It is by far my favorite of the day! I absolutely love how this came out. I can hardly believe i made it! I think it's actually my favorite creation in, probably months.

I wanted to use those two techniques again (since i am completely hooked!) but i wanted to try a different color scheme and a different kind of set. So i dug around in my drawer and pulled out the set called Fresh Cuts, which i haven't used in awhile. Well, it is perfect for this technique.

I inked up the image first in Versamark, then in Basic Black. I then embossed it with clear embossing powder. Next, i brayered on the three shades of blue. The black just pops up against that blue, doesn't it?! I love it. I thought it could use one more color for contrast, so i added the yellow layer. I'm still not sure that gray was the perfect choice for the card base...perhaps i should have used one of the blue shades instead.

Anyway, here's the card:

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated.
To place an order, contact me directly OR go to http://melissav.stampinup.net and click the "order now" button.

Set: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Going Gray, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Night of Navy
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Bone folder, Craft & Paper Scissors, Brayer, Stampin' sponge
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain

Another emboss resist (with brayer)

Here's another card i made recently using my two new favorite techniques. For this one i used the Thoughts and Prayers set, which i've had for awhile (and love) but hadn't had much chance to use until the last few weeks. Unfortunately, i've needed a sympathy card several times lately, so it was the perfect time to break in this set. It has this beautiful tree, a sprig of flowers, and several perfect sentiments for both the outside and inside of a get well or sympathy card. This card was MUCH easier to make than it looks...and i'm really happy with how it came out.


All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated.
To place an order, contact me directly OR go to http://melissav.stampinup.net and click the "order now" button.

Set: Thoughts and Prayers
Cardstock: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Bone folder, Brayer, Stampin' sponge
Adhesive: SNAIL
Other: Clear Embossing Powder

Rose-filled Wedding

We went to a wedding recently. Here's the card i made for the bride and groom, using one of the sets i got for FREE as a reward for my Sale-a-Bration performance. There's nothing better than free stamps! This set is a two-step-stampin' set, which makes me look like much more of an artist than i actually am. :) Especially now that i finally broke out my Stamp-a-ma-jig and put it to good use. (It enables you to stamp exactly where you want to, which helps a lot with two-step-stamping.) I used mostly blue because that was their wedding color.

Set: A Rose is a Rose, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, A Greeting for All Reasons (retired)
Cardstock: Soft Sky (retired), Blue Bayou (retired), Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Soft Sky (retired), Blue Bayou (retired), Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Silver
Tools: Bone folder, Craft & Paper Scissors, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Scallop Edge punch, 3/16" Corner Rounder
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon

I can't resist Emboss Resist!

So yesterday, I got bitten with a creative bug, apparently. I ended up stamping for hours on end. It was so much fun! A special thank you goes out to my baby girl Naomi, for taking two nice long naps, which freed up so much of my time to play and play.

Here's the first card i made, using a technique i've been trying to learn. It's called Emboss Resist, and i also finally figured out how to use my brayer to layer on color. I am now addicted to these two techniques! I made several cards using them, so i'll be sharing the others over the next couple of weeks.


Set: Upsy Daisy
Cardstock: So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, More Mustard
Ink: VersaMark, So Saffron, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Bone folder, Craft & Paper Scissors, Brayer, Stampin' sponge, Large Oval and Scallop Oval punches
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: White Embossing Powder, More Mustard 1/4" grosgrain, Post-it note

John's first Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, especially to my husband John since this is his very first Father's Day as a father. Naomi made him this card (just kidding, but she did help me write on the inside...or rather, i helped her write on the inside...LOL). Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling well this morning so she and i stayed home from church. So the poor new daddy went to church by himself on his first Father's Day. :(

But she and i used her awake time wisely by making him this card! The "To the Nines" specialty paper really made things easy - we didn't even need to think about a color combination. Naomi loves stripes, so we chose one of the striped designs. You can't see it in the picture, but it's nice and thick (cardstock weight) and has a nice texture to it. I like to really "rough up" guy cards, so we added more texture with the Sanded large background stamp, tone on tone, and by sponging some extra Sahara Sand to the edges of the base piece. Same thing with the sentiment piece. I've found that ribbon doesn't look girly if you use an earth tone and refrain from tying a bow or knot of any kind, which is why i went ahead with a little ribbon here ! So there you have it.

Here's the "recipe":

Sets: Sanded, All Year Cheer II (retired)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip
DSP: To the Nines
Ink: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip
Tools: Bone folder, craft & paper scissors, sponge
Adhesive: SNAIL, dimensionals
Other: Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain