Card in a Box

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Chris Slogar

One of this weekend’s Stamp Club projects will be a Card in a Box, not the ones I am showing today, but a floral version.

My first design was very simple, though it doesn’t come across that way thanks to the fun dimension and papers! You can get a better idea of the construction in the next view.

The candles are 1/2″ strips of cardstock with flames made from the wing on the Bird Builder punch. The stamps are all from Perfect Pennants.

And you might not expect it, but these cards fit in an envelope. They fold flat!

Since we are heading into graduation season and I have a graduating senior…I had to come up with a special version for grads! Our high school colors are purple and gold.

Do you recognize the balloon shape? It is one of the ornament framelits. The stamps are Blue Ribbon and Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Both of these cards were made to fit a standard A2 envelope, so when they are folded flat they measure 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″. There are great directions to make these along with a video at splitcoaststampers.com. Click here to go to those directions – they call this a “Pop-Up Box Card”. I followed these directions with the notes for Variation to A2 (Vertical).

I had to pull myself out of my craft room last night once I got started on these. They are much simpler than they look, and you can make them with whatever you have on hand – no special dies or framelits required, and the possibilities for embellishment are endless. Don’t you love that kind of project!?

I will post the version that we make in Club next week. I still have a spot available in each group (2pm and 6:30pm), and we are starting a new 8-month session this Sunday. Contact me if interested.

Greetings a la Carte

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Chris Slogar

It’s time to look at this month’s “a la carte” choices. Four designs are held over, and five are new. On most of the choices, the greeting can be changed to suit your preference. This month’s class is next Thursday at noon or 6pm.

Please contact me if you would like to join us. There will probably be a few spots available, especially in the evening, depending on everyone’s card choices. Since this class is set up in stations, I just need to make sure everyone is not planning to make the same card. If you are signed up, please let me know your choice(s) from the “menu” below as soon as possible.

“Greetings a la Carte” is a Stamp-a-stack for anyone who wants to produce many cards. The cards are relatively simple, so they are easy to produce and easy to mail. All of the cards have a Whisper White or Very Vanilla piece for the inside of the card.

There are 9 designs to choose from, available in groups of 8 only. I will take orders ahead of time for the designs that you would like so that I can prepare the right quantity of each. The price varies based on the design, and basic adhesive is not included.

You can sign up for more than one design, or multiples of designs. Depending on the quantity you choose, you may or 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.

I will offer this class monthly if there is interest, and I will change the designs periodically. You are welcome to suggest designs too!

#1 Oh, Happy Day – 8/$12

Brian King-inspired design.

#2 Tangerine Petite Petals – 8/$12

A Card Buffet Favorite in spring colors.

#3 Pastel Pansies – 8/$12

Another Card Buffet favorite, and these are representative of the designer paper that will be available from the Subtles paper stack. Make four each of two colors.

#4 Painter’s Tape Sympathy Card – 8/$10

#5 Bright Petite Petals – 8/$12

A CASE of Connie Babbert’s card using the polaroid On Film framelit and Petite Petals.

#6 Pastel Petite Petals – 8/$10

Another Card Buffet favorite, also with Petite Petals.

#7 Crumb Cake So Very Thankful – 8/$12

The card shown here is the “a la Carte” choice. If you would like to add bookmarks, you can add them at a rate of 4/$3 if you are making this choice.

#8 Sassy Brights – 8/$10

Bright and cheery flowers in fun colors.

#9 Burlap and Gold – 8/$12

A Petal Parade flower in Blushing Bride with a little gold.

Please let me know if you have any questions! Have a great day!

Fab Friday Challenge and Weekly Deals

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I know…it’s not Friday, but this is my card for Fab Friday 38. The current color challenge at Fab Friday uses less color than I usually use, so it was truly a challenge. The author on this challenge says that this color combination is kind of springy. I’ll go with that, if they are referring to the Pistachio Pudding. I hope they don’t live in a place where spring is defined by two shades of brown 🙂

I did try to keep spring in mind as I made my card. I also tried to stick with only these colors, and found that the burlap ribbon is a very close match to Baked Brown Sugar. These colors are really crisp and clean with Whisper White, so the chevron background and the flower really pop. I added some touches of gold to make it a little more interesting.

You can see more cards in this challenge at Fab Friday.

This week’s Weekly Deals are shown below. If you would like me to add anything to my order this week, please let me know by Sunday. Have a great day!

	Make A Cake Clear-Mount Stamp Set Item # 126742 Regular Price: $11.95 US/$14.95 CAN Discounted Price: $8.96 US/$11.21 CAN
	Punch Pack Item # 118309 Regular Price: $16.95 US/$22.95 CAN Discounted Price: $12.71 US/$17.21 CAN
	Secret Garden Framelits Dies Item # 129372 Regular Price: $24.95 US/$30.95 CAN Discounted Price: $18.71 US/$23.21 CAN
	Summer Starfruit 1-1/4″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon Item # 132980 Regular Price: $8.95 US/$12.50 CAN Discounted Price: $6.71 US/$9.38 CAN
	Island Indigo Baker’S Twine Item # 125575 Regular Price: $2.95 US/$3.95 CAN Discounted Price: $2.21 US/$2.96 CAN
	Brights Glimmer Brads Item # 121006 Regular Price: $4.95 US/$6.50 CAN Discounted Price: $3.71 US/$4.88 CAN
	Gingham Standard Stampin’ Around Wheel Item # 130110 Regular Price: $6.50 US/$7.95 CAN Discounted Price: $4.88 US/$5.96 CAN
	Recipes By Design Digital Kit – Digital Download Item # 118869 Regular Price: $9.95 /$10.95 CAN Discounted Price: $5.97 US/$6.57 CAN

Guest Stamper

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I am excited to have a great assortment of cards to show today! They were created by Mary Jane Ebie, a customer-turned-demo who joined Stampin’ Up! during Sale-a-bration this year.

Mary Jane brings her ideas and samples to classes, club, and events, and she is so willing to share techniques and designs. There is always a lot of oohing and aahing, along with the comment that she needs a way to showcase her beautiful work!

I have a handful to show off today, starting with this really fun way to use Just Sayin’ and the Word Bubble framelits with the numbers from Typeset Alphabet Bigz. So clever!

Don’t the mixed up numbers fit the humor of this particular stamp?

Next, this sweet robin was punched with the Bird Builder punch from Very Vanilla cardstock. The upper part of the body was sponged with Soft Suede, and the belly was done with chalk. The beak and eye were added with markers.

What a great color combination here – Pistachio Pudding with Strawberry Slush! This is the Five-Way Flower with a Flowering Flourishes stem in the background.

This sentiment is from the Ronald McDonald Charities set, Tag It (p 45 AC, $3 from each set goes to RMHC). This set coordinates with the Chalk Talk framelits, and Mary Jane has used a few of those shapes here to make it fun. I also love the retired designer paper that looks like a hospital gown!

And last but not least, Mary Jane considered this a Valentine, and she found some really fun Washi Tape to go with the sentiment “love you much” from Best of Love. I think it can be used year-round with your favorite colors, don’t you?

Thank you to Mary Jane for the great content of today’s post!! I hope to share more work from Guest Stampers – we have been getting better about sharing “Show and Tell” (as I call it) at events, and I think it is a favorite part of our get-togethers!

Sketch Challenge Chick

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Chris Slogar

When I saw this week’s Sketch Challenge at Create with Connie and Mary, I had an idea for an Easter card immediately. I knew the strips would be a pastel fringe, but it did take some time to figure out the focal point. Two friends in my Card Buffet classes yesterday helped me fiddle around with this until it came together, so thank you Nancy and Mary Jane!

Here is the sketch:

I love this little chick that I first saw on Connie Stewart’s blog. I have already made a few projects with this chick! After considering a stamped image for the focal point, I decided that this cute punch art suited the theme of the card better. More details here on making this chick.

The colors I used are Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder, and Soft Sky.

You can see more entries into this Sketch Challenge at Create with Connie and Mary.

Have a great weekend!

Single Layer Thank You

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I’m keeping it simple today. It just takes a few minutes to make this thank you note card – or even a set of these. There is no cutting involved because I used our pre-cut and pre-scored note cards. There are twenty 5″x3 1/2″ cards and envelopes in the pack for $5.95 (Item 131527, p 162 AC). They are slightly thicker than Whisper White card stock, but have the same Whisper White smooth surface that we love.

The watercolored background is made by coloring with markers on an acrylic block. I used my size D block for this card.

Using the brush end of the marker, swipe color onto the block. I used Rich Razzleberry, Primrose Petals and Blushing Bride in this sample.

Lightly mist water onto the block – I have a cheap discount store spray bottle for this, and I use 3 sprays. You may need to experiment with the amount of water you like for this effect.

Press the block to the cardstock.

Allow to dry, and then stamp an image with StazOn. I masked the bottom of my background area with a Post-It note.

Click here to see more samples using this technique – it is really pretty with blues/greens and the So Very Grateful images, too. I used the tulips from Blessed Easter on this card.

Just a side note about the Blessed Easter single stamp… I knew I would like to have the tulips without the greeting, but I did not mount the stamp that way at first. The greeting is very close to the image, and I didn’t want to try to cut them apart. I regretted this as soon as I started using the stamp, and two weeks later, I decided to remedy the situation.

A customer taught me that you could put your stamp in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen the glue. I microwaved my stamp for about 10 seconds, and I was able to easily pull the rubber and foam away from the wood block. Once I had the rubber piece free, I carefully cut the greeting away from the tulips. The greeting is too big to mount on the end of the block, so I mounted it to another block.

You can see an outline from the original position of my stamp on the block. That portion of the block is still a bit sticky, but I am much happier to have my tulips separated! Next time I will go with my first instinct about how to mount the stamp, but it is nice to know there is a fix.

Card Buffet Cards

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Chris Slogar

I do a lot of CASE*-ing for Card Buffet because I need a variety of styles and designs. Since this is a Card Buffet week, I thought I would show you some of the cards we are making. (*CASE = Copy and Share Everything)

I have made this card repeatedly! The card front laying on the table is a swap from this year’s Leadership Conference, but there was no contact info on it. After making it in many pastels, my teammate Amy Kunkle made a black and gold version, which I loved, too! One design can go a long way – here is the version we are making in this month’s Card Buffet:

The flowers are embossed with gold, and the picture does not capture how bright and sharp the gold looks against the black. The flowers and the gold foil are much lighter and brassier than they look in the picture.

These are both CASEs – the one on the left is from Natalie Travis’ swap at Leadership, and the one on the right is from a Pinterest pin, made by Carol Lovenstein.

These are also Pinterest finds. The original Word Bubble card was done in German by Nadine Weiner. I have two CASEs from German demonstrators in this month’s Card Buffet. See the other one here. I just think it is cool that we are getting our ideas from all over the world now!

The Washi Tape card was CASEd from Georgia Giguere. She used Petite Petals flowers instead of arrows, and I thought it would also be great with little hearts or stars. It would also be great with any of the Washi Tapes and coordinating colors! The sentiment is from one of our Photopolymer sets, Countless Sayings 2.

This one is not a CASE, but I think it’s the last Card Buffet card that I haven’t shown yet in my blog – a very seasonal card that used retired stamps. There are still openings in tomorrow’s Card Buffet Classes at noon and 6:30pm. Let me know if you would like to join us!

Weekly Deals

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Chris Slogar

Here are this week’s Weekly Deals:

	Blue 3/8 Inch Denim Jean Ribbon Item # 125053 Regular Price: $6.95 US/$9.50 CAN Discounted Price: $5.21 US/$7.13 CAN
	Delicate Details Lace Tape Item # 130966 Regular Price: $9.95 US/$11.95 CAN Discounted Price: $7.46 US/$8.96 CAN
	Polka Stampin’ Around Builder Wheel Item # 130109 Regular Price: $4.50 US/$5.95 CAN Discounted Price: $3.38 US/$4.46 CAN
	Perfect Pennants Bigz Die Item # 123126 Regular Price: $32.95 US/$40.95 CAN Discounted Price: $24.71 US/$30.71 CAN
	Fancy Flower Punch Item # 118073 Regular Price: $16.95 US/$22.95 CAN Discounted Price: $12.71 US/$17.21 CAN
	Fun Flowers Bigz L Die Item # 121812 Regular Price: $32.95 US/$40.95 CAN Discounted Price: $24.71 US/$30.71 CAN
	7/16″ Natural Trim Ribbon Item # 129287 Regular Price: $6.95 US/$8.95 CAN Discounted Price: $5.21 US/$6.71 CAN
	Mom, I Love You Ensemble – Digital Download Item # 129872 Regular Price: $9.95 /$10.95 CAN Discounted Price: $5.97 US/$6.57 CAN

Starburst Sayings for FMS129

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Chris Slogar

Wow, the sunshine goes well with my card today. Hope it’s here to stay!

I made this card with this week’s sketch inspiration from Freshly Made Sketches, shown below. It uses my favorite stamp from Starburst Sayings – everyone should receive a card with this sentiment on it! In the spirit of Freshly Made Sketches, I kept it very clean. You can see more entries for this challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

Today is the last day of Sale-a-bration. Please contact me if you would like to get in on my last SAB order, or use the Shop Now button at the top right of this page. I have a group order ready to go, just waiting until this evening to see if there are any last minute additions.

Today is also the last day to receive the free marker set with a My Paper Pumpkin subscription. Please contact me if you have any questions, or click the pumpkin in the left sidebar to sign up.

Have a great Monday!

Hardwood and Petite Petals

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Chris Slogar

Loved, loved, loved this Pinterest find! Don’t you love the soft colors – So Saffron, Pool Party and Crisp Cantaloupe against the Soft Suede Hardwood?! It is nearly an exact CASE from born2stamp.com, and it will be in next week’s Card Buffet. It is a great card for so many occasions – you can easily change the greeting on this one. Let me know if you can join us – you can find the details under “Events”.

And don’t forget…if you subscribe to My Paper Pumpkin by March 31, you will receive the 2012-2014 Stampin’ Write Markers with your Starter Kit. Click on the Pumpkin in the left sidebar to learn more details or subscribe.