May 21, 2007 | Information, Tutorial
I’m baaaack….and a couple of tutorials here!
First up is the Stamp-a-ma-jig – one of my favourite stamping tools. Trust me, I’ve tried other stamp positioners and this is the best one! I’m still using my original samj from Stampin’ Up! – it’s purple. The current version is the same but is in black.
This tool is great for precise placement of stamped images or quick fixes. You know, when you stamp and some of the image doesn’t turn out….the samj will help you restamp exactly over top of your original image & saving that piece of cardstock from the recycle bin.
The samj consists of the positioner and the acrylic sheet. To use; position the sheet snugly in the corner of the positioner. The set up here is great for right handed stampers. Lefties could position the acrylic sheet on the other side. You can also put the positioner at the “top” corner of the sheet. It’s your preference, just be consistent.
(OK try not to notice that the sheet is not in perfect position, it’s very hard to position & photograph with only 2 hands!! LOL)
Next step – ink up the stamp, and place it snugly in the upper corner of the positioner – and slide it straight down….
until it makes contact with the acrylic sheet.
Normally, I’d use one hand to hold the positioner in place, and the other hand to slide the stamp, but again, I only have 2 hands, and one of them was holding the camera!!
Here’s the image on the acrylic sheet.
Next step is to take the acrylic sheet & position it so the image is exactly where you want it to be on your cardstock.
Holding the acrylic sheet in place, slide the positioner up to the corner of the acrylic. (again, more easily accomplished with two hands!! LOL)
Remove the acrylic sheet, leaving the positioner in place.
Ink up your stamp
Line up the stamp in the upper corner & slide down until you make contact with the cardstock.
et voila!
May 11, 2007 | Announcements
Stampin’ Up! just announced that they were able to come to a special agreement with the producers of the Stampin’ Around wheels – and ALL retiring wheels will be available until June 30th! Yay, SU!! Yes, even the ones that were listed as "supply exhausted". Woohoo! Please note that there may be some backorders, but you will still receive the wheel in question. So feel free to go over the retired wheels list at your leisure….but not too leisurely, as after June 30th, they’re gone forever!
Retired list by page number
Retired list alphabetically
Dormant list – due to the more seasonal nature of the new fall/winter collection catalogue (coming July 1st), these sets will not appear, but will be available to order until Jan 1, 2008.
May 10, 2007 | Uncategorized
There’s still time! Perhaps you’ve already heard about this… Shane Bernier is battling lymphoblastic leukemia & wants to break a world record for receiving birthday cards. His birthday is May 30th, although I’m not sure that there is a deadline to send/receive a card! You can mail a card to: Shane Bernier, PO Box 484, Lancaster ON, K0C 1N0. Here’s a link to his site: Shane’s Wish.
May 2, 2007 | Announcements
Promise – I will post some card pics soon! In the meantime, I thought I’d post a link to the wheel status list. Retiring wheels are while supplies last ONLY. (Stamp sets available until June 30th). The latest report on status is here. Yellow is limited supply, red is out of stock. I’ll try to keep posting as they update the reports.****EDITED TO ADD**** Link stays active to most current list, so just click on it daily!! (isn’t technology wonderful sometimes?!)
May 1, 2007 | Announcements
Here is the retired list!
Off to see how many sets will end up in my rubber garage sale this year!! (I think it will be a big one…)
List sorted by 2006 – 2007 Idea Book & Catalogue page number
List sorted alphabetically
Retiring accessories will be listed June 20th.
Apr 30, 2007 | Announcements
May heralds the arrival of Stampin’ Up!’s Retired list… in the meantime…
There’s another great special! Palette O’Prints! For every $50 order (pre tax/shipping) you are eligible to purchase this 6×6 sampler pad of new designer paper – and let me tell you – it’s FANTASTIC. Multiples of these double sided papers in multiple colours – enough to use some & still be able to hoard!
Until tomorrow,
Linda
Apr 27, 2007 | Tutorial
AKA the bow on my wedding invite swap. (Did you notice it was for Jessica Simpson & John Mayer?! LOL. What can I say, it was easier than making up 2 names).
First of all, I used the double rectangle punch to create the 2 holes. Much easier than trying to line up a single punch twice. The vellum paper is thin, so I could punch through that and the cardstock without issue.
Next, I took a length of wide organdy ribbon, and put an end through either hole, front to back.
Next, criss cross the ribbon in back. I’m holding one end out of the way.
The end of the ribbon feeds to the front of the card, through the opposite hole. (I’m still holding the one end of ribbon out of the way).
(Don’t my nails look nice? didn’t even have to "edit" them with photo software!! LOL).
Pull the end through snugly….
Then repeat with the other end of ribbon.
Finish the ends. Fold ribbon in half lengthwise, then snip on a downwards angle towards the fold. I call this "Martha"-ing the ribbon – it gives a notched edge to the ribbon, looks nice & helps prevent fraying. I originally saw it on Martha Stewart Living!
Once again, the finished project.
Apr 27, 2007 | rubber stamping
I recently became a "swap angel" for a wedding invitation swap. Basically, a person who had signed up for this swap was unable to participate, so after a call went out, I volunteered to take their place. We were to make 12 wedding invitations and mail them to the swap hostess (Jacky). We are in groups of 12, so you get one of everyone’s cards back – a great way to increase your samples & get great new ideas. I chose to use Roses in Winter, which is one of my favourite floral sets. I used a combination of colours that I always seem to turn to for this set – Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Garden Green & Brocade Blue. I used a large post it note as a mask and centred it on the cardstock, then stamped all around the edges of the cardstock. After removing the post it note mask, I edged along the border with the gold end of the Zig Painty Pen. I printed the words on vellum paper and set it aside to dry before trimming to an appropriate size and adhered it to the card using a 2 hole bow. Not only does this add a layer to the card, but it also allowed me some room to play with the positioning to centre the script on the card. The vellum layer is actually narrower than the card itself. I basically shifted the vellum around til I thought the words looked centred, and trimmed the side of the vellum accordingly. Much easier than either printing onto the cardstock (again, positioning issues) or printing onto exact sized vellum. I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful swaps that I’ll receive in return!
Apr 25, 2007 | Uncategorized
I was tagged by my friend Eleonor and apparently this means I have to list 7 random things about me. (probably more than you wanted to know!)
1) In my teens, I was a member of the Burlington Teen Tour Band – a city marching band that travelled to many places. The highlight during my years with the band was a trip to Europe to help commemorate D-Day plus 40. There’s a reunion to commemorate 60 years of the BTTB this June. I still have to complete my registration to participate in this!
2) I have bungy jumped off the bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand.
3) I have essentially no ligaments left in my ankles, thanks to my days in gymnastics. (Obviously I wasn’t _that_ good!!!) Too many sprained ankles.
4) My mother got me hooked on "Survivor" and I’ve been watching every season since the first!
5) I don’t watch any movies of true substance (I get to see animated flicks with my son, or watch light fluffy things on my own). Or at least, very few. I have enough stress in my life already.
6) Same goes for books
7) I don’t usually respond to email forwards or blog games of tag!!! LOL.
I’m also supposed to tag 7 people whose blogs I read. Unfortunately, these people have also been tagged (some of them multiple times) already!!! LOL.
Apr 22, 2007 | rubber stamping
This is one of the alternate card designs that we did in the Simply Sent – Remembering You free class the other evening. Everyone who purchased the kit was eligible to attend this free class where we used the contents of the kit to come up with alternate designs. This particular kit includes 3 watercolour crayons & an aquapainter; all kits include pre-cut & pre-scored cardstock, adhesive & accessories. Stampin’ Up! includes instructions for 2 different card designs, so the class featured 8 other card designs, just using the kit supplies. It was a small class, but we had a good time stamping & chatting! Check out the album for more alternate samples! (click on each photo to enlarge) Off to prep for this week’s workshop, and next week’s Punch Class!
