"Blending" the old with the new

Hi Everyone!  I finally got my craft room put back together after removing all the retired products I will be selling at my retirement sale (June 7th)  and making room for the new!  Of course one of the first things I had to play with from my Sneak peek order was the Blendabilites.  This is my first attempt at using them.  Blendabilities will be available for customers sometime in late July or August, have to admit I am not 100% sure on that, seems us demos loved them so much we pretty much wiped out the stock :)  But that will give us time to play with them a bit so that we can give you good instructions on how to use them too.  They are basically alcohol markers, such as Copics, but with an easy button.  You don't have to look up codes to see what works with what, they are sold in sets of three.  One color, three shades, so all the work is done for you.  I felt they went on pretty easily and I even used them to color the natural cotton ribbon and that was very easy too.  I used a new Stamp, Blended Bloom, which was introduced specifically to use with the Blendabilites.  Blended Bloom is a big bold image, perfect for coloring, yet an organic image so your shading doesn't  have to be perfect while you are learning the ins and outs of this new marker.

  I used a retiring card base for this card. I love the Watercolor Wonder Designer notecards.  They truly are lovely and a nice heavy watercolor paper.  You get 20 cards, 4 each of 5 designs.   I have to admit to grabbing a few packs of these, they will be gone May 31st :(   $12.95 for 20 note cards, envelopes included.








Thanks for stopping by today!

Pre-order goodies!!

Not much is going to get done around here today!  My order from the new catalog has just arrived and I feel the need to put it all where it goes and then spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the blendabilities!!    Fun! 
For those of you who have been hearing about the upcoming Blendabilities and want to know just what they are, here is the story.   For those that love to color, I am one of those, there are a few Stampin' Up! options like blender pens and ink, aqua painters, markers, all of which are great.  I especially love the blender pens and aqua painters.  There is another non-Stampin' Up! option that I have been hearing about for years but never tried called Copics.  They seemed a bit pricey and I am an SU gal so I never invested in them.  I have seen some beautifully colored projects with them, so when Stampin' Up! announced that they would be offering their own version of Alcohol based markers I was eager to try them.   Because they are Alcohol based, you can use them on things that our regular markers wont color on, such as clear acetate window sheets or even the pearls and rhinestones.  Another Stampin' UP! demonstrator called the Blendabilities "Copics Light" because they are like clicking the easy button.  The Blendabilites come in sets of three of one color, a dark, medium, and light.  You don't have to look at charts to see what markers go with which, the shades all come in a set.   A set of 3 markers is $11.95. Stampin' Up! has created a good video how to and I will link it as soon as it is available for customers.    Now, off I go to play with my goodies!  Well, I guess I will also put together some new catalog packets for my customers, you guys want to see the new catalog right? :)

MDS Blog Hop - Mother's Day!

 

Hi Everyone! It's MDS Blog Hop time again!! Yea!  What is an MDS Blog Hop?  Well, a group of MDS (My Digital Studio) users joined together to bring you fun projects using the My Digital Studio software. We all love MDS and we want you to love it too!  This week we are celebrating Mother's Day!  MY Digital Studio really came to the rescue for me this Mother's Day as I was asked to make favors for all the mothers who attend church this Sunday.   My project for this hop is really not very elaborate or difficult, its more of a project I think every crafter can relate to.  Party Favors!  I was asked to make a favor for all the Mothers who come to church this Sunday.   There is nothing better than MDS for making multiples.  I was able to make all the tags in just a few minutes.   


Here is the first box all finished.  I used retired DSP and brads, purchased from the Clearance Rack.   I love the Clearance Rack! I can always find great deals on Ribbon, paper and more.









I printed out several sheets of tags.  The great thing about using digital stamps is you can line them all up and space then perfectly so that you can cut them out with the paper trimmer quickly in nice straight cuts.

My second project is a little more fun.  I saw a similar project on Pinterest for a Teacher  gift, using students fingerprints, with a different saying of course :)    I looked through my digital stamps and found a tree that worked in the "Spooky Bingo Bits", sort of an odd tree to start making a happy Mother's Day project with, but I think it looks just great with all the finger prints added.   Next I added loads of Text boxes, one for each child and grandchild, and more for the saying along the bottom.   I printed it all out on Naturals White paper.  I used my Wild Wasabi ink pad to have people add their fingerprints.

 This is what it looked like before the fingerprints were added. 



















If this is your first stop on the Hop, be sure to go all the way around to see everyone's MDS projects!  Now its time to Hop on over to Holly's Blog!  I am sure that Holly has something great to share.  

MDS Hybrids

I recently showed some MDS (My Digital Studio) Hybrid cards on my Digital Blog but I decided to quickly share them here because I think MDS is perfect for those who don't scrapbook and just love to make cards.  Some card makers may think they don't need MDS because they love to stamp, but MDS is a really great solution for having thousands of images to choose from at less cost.  For example, the software is just $19.95, about the average cost of a stamp set.  It is available as a download so no shipping charges apply.  The software comes with a lot of digital content, but there is also a digital library with thousands of stamps!  And, MDS is compatible with lots of other digital stamps from other sources, so your options are even larger.    I needed a motorcycle.  I checked the library at Stampin' Up! and I found this guy for just $1.95.  And best yet, you can buy it, download it, and use it within minutes!

I also love that they don't take up much space!  This "King of the Grill" stamp set was in my collection for a long time because I thought it would be hard to find a BBQ set if I let go of it when it retired.  It can be hard to find masculine sets, I think anyway.  But, I found it was available as a download!! Yea!  And downloads can be resized!  make a tiny grill guy or a large one!! Digital stamps are so versatile.  I don't have a fancy printer, just the one in my husbands office that is a printer, fax and copy machine in one, but the images come out great.  I do send my scrapbook pages out to be printed, the SU print services are true to SU colors and I really like how they turn out.  But, then I am going to color the stamp with markers or Aqua Painters, my home printer works great.  I hope you are inspired to use MDS in your card making.  Maybe I'll end up turning you into an MDS lover too!






Thanks for stopping by today!  I am happy to answer any MDS questions you may have!

New Weekly Deals Today!!

New Weekly Deals were posted today! 

Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies- you don't need to have the stamp set to use these.  They are great with our patterned Designer Series Paper.    Lots of goodies today, and while you are at it, check out the Clearance Rack! 

Work of Art

Last week I got to go to a Stampin' Up! event were the new catalog was unveiled.  It was so much fun to get the new catalog and to see new samples.  I also received a new stamp set called "Work of Art".  As they were showing us samples I immediately knew I wanted this set.  I made a mental note to add it to my first order.  Then as we were leaving we were all given our own sets and I was so happy!!













I stared by adding a bit of rubbing alcohol and a couple drops of Island Indigo ink to my spritzer.

I added a couple spritzes of ink to the card panel made with Naturals White paper.

I next inked up the chevron stamp with Island Indigo, Pool Party, and Soft Sky markers. 

I sprayed the stamp with a bit of mt Stamp Cleaner that is always sitting out on my desk. 




















Here is the finished background.  Nice huh? 

I added a sentiment  and the heart to the panel.

Soft Sky Seam Binding ribbon finished off the front.  I popped up the panel with dimensionals and adhered it to a card base. 

Love this set!!











Thanks for stopping by!!

One card base two ways

During Sale-a-Bration we made the card on the right and as I was cleaning off my work desk I found a baggie with some left over card bases.  I was just going to make up some more of the Sale-a-Bration thank you cards but I didn't have any of the DSP cut anymore and decided to make something else instead.   It's interesting how changing the Basic Black to Baked Brown Sugar and the Whisper White to Very Vanilla can make such a big difference in how the Pool Party on the card looks.   The card base is one I have been seeing a lot on the web and so I really don't know who was the original creator of this.  I do love how it uses the Scallop Tag Topper punch in a new way.  I am getting a lot of mileage out of that punch for sure!  I made those Easter treats a few weeks back, and lots more.  This is a really fun punch!!  You can do an internet search for "scallop tag topper punch" to see lots of videos on how to make this and more. 

   The centers of the flowers have some added sparkle with the addition of Dazzling Details.
The larger flowers are from the Flower Shop stamp set.  The smaller flowers are from the Petite Petals stamp set.  Both have matching punches!!

The tabs are punched with the scallop tag topper punch.

I really wanted to show you some new goodies today but i seriously trashed my stamp room rearranging after removing all the retired items.   So then I made these cards with the card bases I uncovered, and I think I am all set to get to stamping new now.  I hope to share some newness with you soon!
Thanks for stopping by!