Guest Stampers

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Chris Slogar

This adorable collection of fry boxes was made by Jan from my Stamp Club. Each one is different, and they are loaded with details that make them special – like the highlights in the eyes or the wart on the witch’s nose. Here’s a closer look…

I love Jan’s use of the owl punch for the bat’s body and the bird punch for the vampire’s ears! And don’t you love the pale blue skin tone on the vampire?

They are all so cute! Thanks for sharing, Jan!

I also want to show off a card that I received from Mary Jane. It went on my “Must-CASE” list as soon as I saw it. It is a great seasonal card and not too complicated to make.

I like the fact that this card has a lot of stamping on it, and it uses great seasonal colors. Mary Jane used Hello Honey, Cajun Craze, and Mossy Meadow. The leaves are from “Fall Fest”. Unfortunately, I don’t have the Cajun Craze ribbon that Mary Jane used – it is retired. I changed up the colors a bit to coordinate with the ribbon I have available.

In my CASE, I used Crushed Curry striped ribbon. Since I still needed some contrast, I used a dark Blackberry Bliss base. If you are going to make this card, I recommend that you stamp your greeting first so you are sure to have enough room for it.

Have a great weekend! If you are looking for the additional “a la carte” cards for next week’s class, I will post them this weekend – I am still hoping to get a stamp set today for the final sample.

From Our Home to Yours

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I have another Christmas card today, but in case you are overloaded with Christmas already or still not ready, I promise to have a fall card and Halloween treats tomorrow. It’s just so hard to resist the Christmas spirit when we have all of these bright, festive colors, trims and stamps – especially this “Holiday Home” set. Despite its name, this set will still be very useful after the holidays. It’s a fun set for $15.95, and it is clear so you can place those little pieces exactly where you want them! All of the pieces are shown below:

Holiday Home, Item 135095 Photopolymer $15.95

Bundled with Homemade Holiday framelits, Item 137631 $31.95

(Framelits also sold separately, Item 135857 $21.95)

The background on this card is from Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper. Thanks for looking!

Bright & Beautiful Stars

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Chris Slogar

This card showcases “Bright & Beautiful” from the Holiday Catalog. I embossed the stars with Cherry Cobbler embossing powder to make them pop. That embossing powder creates glossy tones that are both light and a dark, so I used Real Red for the greeting. The background was stamped in Crumb Cake with the retired “Dictionary” stamp.

Did you notice my gold mini brad? It is actually a silver mini brad embossed with gold powder. I learned this trick from Jan, a gal in my Stamp Club. She has made many beautiful brads, large and small, in all colors and with mixed powders that create a cool, speckled look. It is easy to do – just push a brad onto a Versamark pad and dip it in embossing powder. Heat the powder as you would when embossing on cardstock. I use long tweezers to hold the brad when heating.

Have a great day!

Weekly Deals and “BOO” Banner

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Chris Slogar

The Weekly Deals are shown below. Please remember that I am submitting orders regularly, and I would be happy to include as many or as few items as you want. Shipping is 10% with the group, instead of the $6.95 min. I will be ordering later today, but also this weekend if you would like any of the Weekly Deals.

	Perfect Print Numbers Bigz Die Item # 133726 Regular Price: $24.95 US/$30.95 CAN Discounted Price: $18.71 US/$23.21 CAN
	Truly Grateful Wood Stamp Set Item # 131730 Regular Price: $27.95 US/$33.95 CAN Discounted Price: $20.96 US/$25.46 CAN
	Mustache Framelits Die Item # 133741 Regular Price: $7.95 US/$9.95 CAN Discounted Price: $5.96 US/$7.46 CAN
	Darling Doily Thinlits Die Item # 133736 Regular Price: $24.95 US/$30.95 CAN Discounted Price: $18.71 US/$23.21 CAN
	Tiny Triangles Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Item # 133740 Regular Price: $7.95 US/$9.95 CAN Discounted Price: $5.96 US/$7.46 CAN
	Decorative Window Gift Box Item # 132146 Regular Price: $4.95 US/$5.95 CAN Discounted Price: $3.71 US/$4.46 CAN
	Floral Frames Framelits Die Item # 127012 Regular Price: $26.95 US/$32.95 CAN Discounted Price: $20.21 US/$24.71 CAN
	Spooky Treats Designer Template – Digital Download Item # 127588 Regular Price: $12.95 US/$13.95 CAN Discounted Price: $7.77 US/$8.37 CAN

I received a really fun banner from my upline Mindy Gray last week. As always, it’s the little touches and attention to detail that make her projects so special! She said that I could share it on my blog, and I know you will love it too!

The pennant pieces are hanging from a length of White & Tangerine Two-Tone Trim. I draped it over my basket, and it’s ready to be filled with Halloween treats! She used the Motley Monsters Designer Series Paper with the “Freaky Friends” stamp set. So cute, isn’t it?!

Many Merry Stars

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Chris Slogar

Here is a sneak peek at “Many Merry Stars” from the upcoming Holiday Supplement. This set combines stars and snowflakes, and I have used only 2 of the 16 stamps from this set here. It coordinates with the Star Framelits, and it will be available beginning October 20. Please contact me if you would like a Holiday Supplement.

The card base is Soft Sky and the mat is Lost Lagoon. The greeting is from “Good Greetings”, a set of 19 greetings shown below. It is free with any $300 order (workshop, catalog party, combined order) through October 31.

Lovely Lace Lives Up To Its Name

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Chris Slogar

The background mat steals the show in this sample – it is vellum, embossed with the Lovely Lace textured impression embossing folder. I layered it over a Blackberry Bliss mat on an Early Espresso base. These rich dark colors seem appropriate for a fall wedding card.

Vellum can be a little tricky to work with. It is slippery on the paper trimmer, and you have to be careful about adhesives so they don’t show. I attached the vellum to the Blackberry Bliss mat with a line of sticky strip where I planned to place the ribbon. Then after the card was fully assembled, I placed a couple of glue dots in places where the embossing is more dense, so that they would not be noticeable. The vellum is not snug to the mat around the whole perimeter, but it is very secure.

The flower is made with two layers of the Blossom Punch, with the petals snipped, a 1 1/4″ and 7/8″ (Hello Honey) Scalloped Circle, and a 3/4″ center stamped with a center from “Mixed Bunch”. The greeting is from “Something to Say”.

Thanks for stopping by today – have a great weekend! It’s going to be eventful here with my college daughter coming home for the weekend with her roomie and my high school daughter’s homecoming. Fun stuff, and for me, that will probably also mean some late night crafting while waiting for them to get home safely!! If I don’t stay busy, I will fall asleep on the couch, and what good is that when policing curfews?

Stars for FMS157

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I started with this week’s challenge sketch in mind, but the design did evolve a bit! I wanted that Blackberry Bliss strip to be wide enough (it measures 2 1/8″) for two rows of Confetti Stars. Here is the sketch:

You can see more entries in this challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

October Greetings a la Carte

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I have a bunch of cards to show today – for my local followers, they are choices for this month’s Greetings a la Carte class. If you are not local, at least there are some new ideas here!

Greetings a la Carte sessions are Thursday, October 16 at noon and 6 pm, and Thursday October 23 at noon and 6 pm. I will post some additional choices next week for the October 23 class. Four of these designs are held over, but if you have another favorite from a recent class, even Card Buffet, please let me know – I may be able to accommodate you.

The price varies based on the design, and each card comes with a Whisper White or Very Vanilla mat piece for the inside (with the exception of the gift card holder). Dimensionals and envelopes are included, but please bring all other adhesives that you like.

You can sign up for more than one design, or multiples of designes. Depending on the quantity you choose, you may not be able to completely assemble these during the class time, but I will make sure you do the steps you need to complete with my supplies. You may have to finish assembly on your own.

Please contact me if you would like to come, and let me know your selection(s) from the “menu” below.

#1 Fall Wreath – 8/$12 (with greeting of your choice)

#2 Holiday Stars – 8/$12

#3 Gold Embossed Nativity – 8/$12

#4 Festival of Trees (pick Real Red or Crumb Cake, or half/half) – 8/$12

#5 Polar Night – 8/$12

#6 Endless Wishes in Lost Lagoon – 8/$10, CASE of Joanne James’ card

#7 Hardwood Christmas Tree – 8/$10, designed with my teammate Amy Kunkle 🙂

#8 Gift Card Holders – 8/$10. Designer paper patterns will vary, and you can choose between the stars and the coffee cup. Star versions made in October 16 class will use the “Be the Star” stamp set. The picture below shows how it looks when you open the flap – the flap pulls the gift card up as it opens.

#9 Flowers and Fibers – 8/$12 (with greeting of your choice)

#10 Stars Birthday – 8/$12

#11 Family Photo – 8/$12. Bring photos that we can crop with the 3″x4″ Project Life die, or plan to add a photo later. This is a picture from several years ago, and I bet my girls will roll their eyes if they see it – Julia is barely recognizable!! I just happened to have some extras of this in a drawer, sorry girls! I guess we’ll find out if they check my site regularly.

Hope you can join us for one of these sessions! Again, if you would like to come, please contact me with your choices. Since this will be set up in stations, there will be a limit to how many can work on the same card.

White Christmas and Gentle Peace

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Chris Slogar

My card for today is made with “White Christmas” from the Holiday Catalog. It is a set of 13 photopolymer stamps that you can use to make wintry outdoor scenes. The images are great for coloring, but it is also striking on a dark background – I used Night of Navy. I heat embossed the trees with white, used a dauber to sponge Craft White in the foreground, and stamped the snow with Craft White. The greeting was cut with a Project Life framelit.

White Christmas (photopolymer) Item 135767 $15.95

Stampin’ Up! also announced a new photopolymer set yesterday – a really gorgeous stained glass image of the Holy Family. It will be available on October 14 – details shown below.

Download (PDF, 1MB)

Weekly Deals and Helmet Favors

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Chris Slogar

Click here to see this week’s Weekly Deals.

I went off on a football season tangent after I made my Brutus Buckeye Curvy Keepsake Box the other day. With a little imagination, those adorable round-ish boxes look like a helmet. I made a companion piece for Brutus, a silver helmet with some tags. Here’s a look from the side:

I couldn’t stop there, and I proceeded to make a Cleveland Browns helmet, and even a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet. Aren’t they fun?