Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!

Hello, My Friends!

Just a quick post to wish you and your family a Happy Easter!

Today is a very important day!  He is Risen!  :)

Club Member, Ted Mattos created this card I found in our Gallery.  What a beautiful card to celebrate today!  Thanks, Ted!



We will be going to our regular church service today and then we are off to my parent's house to celebrate.  :)

Afterwards, we will spend the rest of the night getting ready for our April 1st release! 

Happy Hugs!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Keeping Busy!

Hello, My Friends....

Wowsers!  We had an incredible time in Portland over the weekend!  I taught two classes and we met so many Club Members and new Club Members!  :)

We even had a chance to check out the local Burgerville...Fayleen says it's a Portland tradition, so we had to check it out.  They had Diet Coke, and anyone that has Diet Coke it A-OK in my book.  :)  (yes, the cheeseburgers were yummy!)

We arrived home at 1:30am on Sunday....I sadly didn't make it to church...my whole body sorta ached and I didn't wake up until after 11am....we did get in a quick meal with my parents, though.  :)
 

I leave at 11am today for a quick trip to Florida for Sizzix.  We are working on a {Secret Mission}  ;)  I'm not sure how {Secret} it really is, but I'm not sure if I can share just yet.....

While we were in Portland, we SOLD OUT of the Coffee Cup dies...they went QUICK!  I'm concerned we might sell out on the website soon...I've already placed another order!  :)

Here's a design by Design Team Member, Anna Wight using the new Coffee Cup Die....

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans Treat Packet 

 

From Anna....

Who wouldn't love a packet of chocolate covered espresso beans!? I know I would!! I used the large coffee die to create a card that's folded at the top. The fold is 'hidden' by the lid I added to the top of the card. The card just slips under the paper wrap making it fun to use as a gift card and as an embellishment.
Yum!

I loved making this treat packet!


Anna, thanks so much for sharing this great idea!

Happy Stamping!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Exclusive Dies, a 30 Second Card and Portland!

Hello, My Friends!

Life just seems to get busier and busier around here!  Luckily, I LOVE to be busy, so it's all good!  :)

Lots of news to share....


1.  We have TWO new Exclusive Dies to announce!  Hexagons and the Coffee Die set!  Woo Hoo!




2.  We just released a new 30 Second Card Video!  You can check it out by clicking HERE.

3.  We had a contest on our blog about guessing the time for the video and Jackie Hendershot guessed the exact right time!  Go, Jackie!  Jackie got to pick a stamp set of her choice as her prize.  :)

4.  We are gearing up for our next trip!  This time to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Portland, OR.  I'll also be teaching classes, so if you are in the area (and didn't take my class at the Seattle show), make sure you sign up for this class!
 For more info on the class, click here!

I thought I'd leave you with an adorable photo by Design Team Member, Anna Wight.  Anna lives on a farm and one of her hens hatched a chick!  She's playing surrogate Mommy to the baby chick while the hen keeps the other eggs warm.  :)



Yes, it's true, all chicks like the ColorBox ink pads by Stephanie Barnard!  :)  (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!)

Happy Stamping!

Friday, March 15, 2013

THREE New Sizzix Products!

Hello My Friends!

We are busy at the Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton, CA today, but I thought I'd share with you that we've released THREE new Sizzix products designed by some girl named Stephanie Barnard.  ;)

Here they are up close....

Birthday Cake Framelits and Stamps
Ornate Flip-it Card Die
Ornate Framelits
Check out the website for more info on these new products!  And just because Ken and I aren't at the office today, we have a handful of employees there packing orders. :) 

Have a great weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Hey, Chickie!

Hello, My Friends!

I jumped into the gallery and what did I see?

This adorable card by Vickie in OK.  :)



I love how Vickie used nice bright colors for the eggs!  Vickie, thanks so much for sharing your card creation with us!

Supplies Vickie used:


Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Card, Square Flip-its
Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Card, Square Flip-its


Sizzix Framelits Die w/stamps - Easter SPECIAL PRICE
Sizzix Framelits Die w/stamps - Easter SPECIAL PRICE

Make sure you check out our gallery for even more fun Easter projects!

Happy Stamping!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Contest and Incredible Tutorial!

Hello, My Friends!

I have two things to share with you today....

1.  It's contest time....we will be releasing our next episode of a 30 Second Card {in five minutes!} on Friday.....guess my time for a chance to win your choice of stamp set ($12.95 value).  Just leave a comment on this blog post....PLEASE visit the blog to leave your comment.  Emailed entries will not be entered.


2.  I have an incredible tutorial by Design Team Member, Anna Wight to share with you today....You will LOVE it!!!!

 

Emboss Resist Tutorial    by Anna Wight

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When I saw the gum4backgrounds stamp from The Stamps of Life, it immediately made me think of a fun technique called emboss resist. So, I thought I would use the large background stamp to share with you a photo tutorial on how to do the emboss resist technique using the Stephanie Barnard color Sprays!.

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Here is a detail photo of the panel I created using the emboss resist technique. Let me show you how it's done!

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The supplies you'll need are watercolor paper, embossing ink, embossing powder in white or clear, water, several color sprays, a waterproof craft surface, a heat tool, and of course the stamp.

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Start by embossing the stamp image onto watercolor paper using embossing ink and an embossing powder.

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You can use white or clear embossing powder, or even a clear based irridescent powder. The powder I chose is irridescent and has a bit of sparkle to it as well. Beautiful, and really adds to the "bubble" look of the stamp image.

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Spray your waterproof craft surface with a couple of spritzes of each spray color, overlapping them slightly, but not completely. I chose to use two different blue sprays as well as a bit of purple, for a nice complimentary color palette. Spray water onto the colors until your colors start to form slightly larger pools of color.

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Next, lightly spray the embossed side of your watercolor paper with water. This step preps the paper fibers for absorbing the color sprays. Once your paper is dampened with water, set your watercolor paper (embossed side face down) into the pools of color. Press the paper onto the crafting surface so you get color on the entire surface of the paper.

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Lift the watercolor paper from the crafting surface to reveal the color. You can see how the embossed area resists the color, and leaves you with a beautiful pattern.

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Using a heat tool, dry the watercolor paper to set the ink colors. If you like the results, you can be finished with the coloring stage... or, you can take it a bit further!

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To add more color, tap the dried paper down into the remaining pools of color, adding a random assortment of spots to the surface of the paper. Tap randomly, into big spots and little spots. When you're happy with the additional splotches, heat set your paper again to dry the ink.

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You can repeat this process until you're happy with the results.

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The Stephanie Barnard Sprays! have wonderful, intense color payoff, and blend together beautifully! I was thrilled by how they took to the watercolor paper. I trimmed my dyed paper to size and assembled my card.

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One more thing ... you could simply clean up your craft surface with paper towels, but don't let that left over color on your craft surface go to waste! Use the left over color to make hand dyed ribbon! This is white seam binding ribbon that I used to wipe up my crafting surface after I was finished coloring my paper. Once I had the ink all wiped up with the ribbon, I gave the ribbon a couple spritzes with water to help soften the edges of the inks, and then set the ribbon aside to dry. Now I have some beautiful hand dyed ribbon to use on future projects.

I hope you try out this technique. It's super easy, and so FUN to watch the color transform the white paper (and ribbon!) into a beautiful, one of a kind, surface.

Supplies:
Stamps: gum4background and bubblegum4me by The Stamps of Life
Ink: VersaMark, Black StazOn, Stephanie Barnard Color Sprays in Blueberry, Sky, and Grape
Paper: Fabriano Watercolor, Neenah
Other: bakers twine, button, tracing wheel, Transparent Embossing Powder, heat tool, craft mat, white seam binding ribbon


Thanks so much, Anna!

Friends, don't forget to enter our 'Time Guessing' Contest...leave a comment on THIS blog post.  :)

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Hello, My Friends!!!!

Woo Hoo!  The new stamp sets are HERE!!!!!  I'm telling you, they are my favorites!  I am in LOVE with the gum!  ;)

Check out the video to see the new products (and new Sizzix!)


Can't see the video? Click Here!
 
 
 

moregum4me

gum4backgrounds

calm2keep
 Visit the Gallery to see lots of great ideas from our team!!!!  Gum Gallery  and the calm2keep Gallery.

Happy Stamping!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Easter Cards!



Hello, My Friends!

Easter card making is in full swing right now.  :)  Since Club Members will soon be getting the bubblegum4me stamp set...I thought I'd share some Easter inspiration with you....


Can't see the video? Click Here!

Here are some of the products used in the video....


Our Exclusive Egg (and jelly bean) Dies made by Sizzix just for us!
eggs2hunt

bunny dies and mini stamp

bunny4Easter

eggs4Easter

Easter4Him



And now, for my all time favorite card, by Jeanne Streiff.....


Isn't this card adorable?!?!?!  Those little bunnies just melt my heart! 



For more inspiration, visit our Gallery!  Don't forget to share your creations in our Gallery! 



Happy Stamping!


Friday, March 1, 2013

WHAT?!?!?!


Hello, My Friends!

What do you mean it's March 1st?  Wait, I was just getting used to it being February!  ;)  Time flies when you are having fun!

And we are having LOTS of Fun at The Stamps of Life!  Tomorrow we are having a HUGE Event at our Facility in Irvine, CA...if you are nearby, be sure to check out the website for more info! 

For today's news...we have a NEW stamp set!  Woo Hoo!  AND....it's one of my all time favorites!  But, the BEST news is....on the 7th, we'll be releasing two coordinating stamp sets!  Woo Hoo!

Here's a video introducing the new stamp set.....


Can't see the video? Click Here!
 
 
 
 
To see even more great examples by our amazing design team, visit the bubblegum4me Gallery
To purchase this stamp set for only $12.88, click here.

Club Members, your stamp set is on it's way to you!  If you aren't a Club Member, you should really consider joining!  Club Members get a NEW stamp set sent to them automatically on the first of every month...for the low price of $10.95 plus $1 shipping in the USA!

Club Members also get discounts on our other products...stamps, dies, inks, blocks....AND Club Members get freebies!  Every few months Club Members get mini stamp sets for free and every couple months we send out free storage sheets to store your stamps.  :)  

There is no cost to join and after three months, you can cancel at anytime with no cancellation fees.  But, the longer you stay in the Club, the more freebies you get!  AND, if you stay in a full year, on your 12th month (and 24th, and 36th and 48th...etc) you get a FREE 4x6 sheet of stamps as a Thank you gift!  :)

Of course, our stamps are made in the USA of the highest quality photo-polymer.  :)  

Happy Stamping!