Creations by Lynn Weiss ~ Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

ENJOY ~ INSPIRE ~ CREATE ~ SHARE


Thursday, January 30, 2014

Simply Sketched Hardwood Birthday

Today I have a masculine birthday card to share using the Hostess Set Simply Sketched, the new background stamp Hardwood and Gorgeous Grunge.

I used watercolor paper for the bird image and created the background by first lightly spraying with water and then using my largest Aqua Painter, adding some swipes of color with some Classic Ink, allowing the colors to bleed and blend together. While still wet, I stamped some ink splatters with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp. After my paper dried (I helped it along with my heat tool) I stamped the bird in Black Stazon and added a little more color to the image with my Aqua Painter.

I like the Hardwood stamp inked in White Craft ink and then stamped on Crumb Cake...it has that pickled wood look. Since this is a manly card, I used a stamped strip in place of ribbon and added a little paper piercing for some extra detail.

This cute little bird sitting on the green grasses has me longing for Spring...this has been such a coooold, snowy winter! I hope that wherever you are, you are staying warm!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Sweet Sorbet Friends Shadowbox

WOO HOO!!! Today is the first day of Sale-a-Bration!!! I have a cute scrapbook page I made for a friend to share today. It uses the Sweet Sorbet DSP which is a FREE selection during SAB. The page is 8x8 and was made to fit inside of a shadowbox frame. The faces of my friends have been blurred because they are all in the witness protection program! Just kidding about that, but I was not sure how they would feel having their photo online so I blurred them to protect "the innocent".

I don't have the coordinating stamp set called Petal Parade (yet!) but I do have Secret Garden with the coordinating framelits and I think it goes really well with this paper. The little Summer Starfruit flowers are from the Petite Petals set in the Occasions Catalog. It has a matching punch. The only fussy cutting I had to do was a couple of the leaves that I cut from the DSP. Here's a closer look to see the detail.

Here is the page after I framed it inside the shadowbox frame.
I also made a birthday card to go with the gift. This was the best photo I got of the card...not that great, but I already sent the gift off in the mail.
The main image on this is from the See Ya Later set...also a FREE selection during SAB. My color choices for this project were selected from the Sweet Sorbet DSP and include:

  • Pool Party
  • Crisp Cantaloupe
  • Pistachio Pudding
  • Summer Starfruit
  • Basic Black
  • Whisper White


Make sure to check out my online store to see everything new from Stampin' Up!... including the Texture Boutique Embossing MachineHip Hip Hooray Card Kit, the Weekly Deals (new today!) and of course Sale-a-Bration! 

Remember...if you are one of my customers, don't forget to add my Hostess Code (in my last newsletter) to receive your FREE thank you card kit from me. 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Stippled Birthday Blossoms

It was my Mom's birthday a couple days ago, so a special card was in order. Her favorite colors include shades of purple, yellow and green. I don't have any DSP with those colors, so I decided to make my own using Stippled Blossoms and Creative Elements.

I started with a 5-1/2" x 11 piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped my design using:

  • Wisteria Wonder
  • Elegant Eggplant
  • So Saffron
  • Crushed Curry
  • Pistachio Pudding
  • Wild Wasabi
  • Pool Party

When I started, I wasn't sure what kind of card I was going to create, but wanted to be sure I had enough "DSP". I used about 1/2 of my decorative paper for this gate fold card...so that means I can make 1 or 2 other projects using the rest of my hand stamped paper. Here's a closer look at the layered Deco Label focal point.
The left half of this label is adhered to the left panel of front of card. The bow kind of holds it in place on the right, but it easily flips open to reveal the inside of the card...
A pretty Tea Lace Paper Doily mats the sentiment on the inside.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Flippin' Friday - Sweet Sorbet Petals

Here it is Friday and I almost forgot to post my flip card. So, here you go...todays card is using all new goodies from the Occasions Catalog and upcoming Sale-a-Bration.

The Sweet Sorbet DSP is so much prettier than it shows in the Sale-a-Bration brochure. I love the soft colors with the pop of black.
I created an extended panel for this flip card so I would have more of an area inside to write a note.
The pretty dahlia image is from Peaceful Petals. I just stamped in Black Stazon and then water colored using my Aqua Painter and ink.

Thanks for stopping by...ENJOY your weekend!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Cheers to Another Great Year!

Today I have a gift set to share with you...a hand painted wine glass with a coordinating card made for a friend.

I tried to match the colors used to paint the wine glass to SU! colors...so a few of the colors (and DSP) used are retired.
I used the fun Birthday Candles Jumbo Wheel to create the back ground on the Pixie Pink layer. I used paper piecing on both the large ribbon banner and the small banner to add detail. Here's a closer look...
The die cut label was stamped with an image from the new SAB set called You're Lovely, embossed in White EP and then die cut with the coordinating Deco Label Framelits.
I painted the candles with some of the same fun designs shown on the Birthday Candle wheel. I wrote, "it's my birthday and I'll drink if I want to!" around the glass. My friend really liked this set!
The large main image in the Another Great Year set made it easy to create a larger card than I normally make. I wanted it bigger because I put a 4x6 photo on the inside. I didn't photograph the inside because the photo of my friend was very unflattering, yet hilarious and she would kill me if I posted it anywhere! lol She laughed so hard when she opened card and read what I wrote that she was in tears. She said this card was definitely going in her special memory box.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Peaceful Petals Thank You

While browsing on Pinterest today I saw this fun sketch that came from a blog called Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges. This is a new site for me and I think it's pretty cool because the design team is made up of SU! demos from all parts of the world. Usually I find these fun challenges after they are over, but this one still has time left, so I'm playing along.

I used the new Peaceful Petal set and stamped it on a background created using the water colored background technique that I described in this post. To add a little more subtle detail, I used a couple other stamps as well...Gorgeous Grunge and the Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel. The other layers are stamped with my new favorite background stamp...Hardword,  inked in White Craft.
Supply List:

Friday, January 10, 2014

Flippin' Friday: Flippin' For Petite Petals

It's Friday already! What a week it's been...we've seen more snow and freezing temperatures than we sometimes see during the whole winter season! Schools have been closed for several days and it's been well below zero...they are saying it is going to warm up a bit over the weekend, so that will be a relief! Is it wrong that's it's only the beginning of January yet here I am already thinking Spring? Uh-oh!

I cannot help it...the soft colors in the Sweet Sorbet DSP, which will be available during Sale-a-Bration for FREE, along with the new Petite Petals stamp set have me thinking Spring for sure! Living here in Michigan when I know it's going to be a loooong time before I see real springtime flowers, these new items certainly are a welcome diversion from all this cold & snow!

The Flower Shop set and the coordinating Pansy Punch have been my favorites since they were introduced in the last catalog...so I was excited to see the new Petite Petals stamp set along with it's coordinating Petite Petals Punch offered in the new Occasions Catalog! They work well together, don't you think?
I really like the pop of black included with these soft, pastel colors in the Sweet Sorbet DSP...it really makes it fresh & fun, don't you think?

Stay warm & enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Happy Birthday Chalkboard

Today is my hubby's birthday so I'm here to share the card I made for him using the new stamp set - Another Great Year from the Occasions Catalog.

Isn't this card fun!? I used the new Hardwood Background stamp to created the wood frame...stamped in White Craft onto Coastal Cabana and then cut into strips and sponged the edges in Crumb Cake. For added stability, each strip was glued onto strips of light weight chip board. The added thickness will insure that the legs stand up as well as creates a nice frame for the blackboard. I even created a stick of "chalk" out of tightly rolled Whisper White card stock.

After embossing the birthday banner image in white on Basic Black, I felt it needed some color and extra detail so I stamped it again in Black Stazon onto the fun new Sweet Sorbet DSP...which will be available during Sale-a-Bration, and did some paper piecing. Another one of the prints was used in the little banner created with Pennant Parade and the coordinating Petite Pennant Punch. The Natural Chevron Ribbon also used to create the banner is new as well and available in from the Occasions Catalog.

Thanks for visiting today!

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Workspace Wednesday: Organizing Scraps

In my last posting I told you about how after a long break in stampin', due to the holidays, I had looked forward to an afternoon filled with stampin' only to discover that my rubber room was a total disaster due to a combination of me not putting things away and using it as a dumping ground while we had family staying with us. So instead of being creative, I had to clean first.
I shared my messy room photos and promised to share my more organized work area when I was done. Since it hasn’t been too long since my total room makeover, and I’ve done a decent job keeping if fairly neat, it was mainly just the little stuff…like those pesky scraps that needed to be organized and put away.

So here is a shot of my room as you walk in...
No more clutter on my desk or on wall behind me! Most of the previous junk had been piles of cut card stock, punched & die cut shapes, etc, that I just didn't want to pitch but didn't quite know what to do with them. Now, I think I may have finally found a good system for helping to keep all my scraps in check. Best part is that I was able to use things I already had on hand so it didn't cost anything.
These cute cardboard bins that I had picked up on various trips to Target finally became useful. (I found them in their Dollar Spot.) I used my Apothecary Art stamp set along with the Label & Bitty Banner Framelits to create labels for the bins. The first bin is "card parts" and what I did was sort various stamped images and put them into small ziplocks or cello bags as shown below. 
I had a stash of small ziplocks & cello bags saved from the packaging of some SU! items for shipping...so instead of throwing those bags away, use them to help organize your small stuff.


The next bin contains stamped backgrounds. They are mostly 1/4 sheets that are stamped and ready to be made into cards. Hopefully when I am in a hurry I can grab some of the parts from these various bins and make a quick card easily. These were mostly extra pieces I ended up not using on previous projects. The 3rd bin is full of completed cards that are ready to send. 
This 4th bin is much larger and I use it for my clear blocks. It's easy for me to grab the one I need and then throw it back into the bin when I'm done. All these handy bins are against the back wall behind where I sit, so I can just swivel my chair to grab them (or to put away).
As you can see in above photo, there is also a 4 drawer unit painted to match my room. I have shared with you in a previous post that this was a yard sale jewelry box in its former life. I use it to hold my embellishments. You can read more here if you would like.

I have one drawer that holds all the various punched & die cut shapes that I ended up not using.
I used small stamp cases and empty button/brad cases to sort like items. It makes it real handy to grab what I need when working on a project.
You probably noticed my peg board which is on the wall behind and next to me. One of my favorite parts of this is the gutter I have mounted the length of it. It has worked out really well for me to store my ribbon. In the past I've tried other storage for my ribbon but this has definitely been the best for me. I can easily see exactly what I have...so I actually use it, plus I'm able to take out the whole spool and put it back without having to deal with a dowel like many ribbon storage systems. My over flow ribbon goes into a couple plastic drawers shown here.
Here is another nice little storage bin I found at Target. Unfortunately, by the time I came across them on their clearance end cap they only had 2 left...but the good news was I got them both for super cheap. They have grommets & magnets on the back for easy mounting and 3 compartments for storage. I decorated them with ribbon, a flower from the retired Pretties Kit and a button with a rhinestone to finish off the flower. These have been really handy for holding some of my extras and I can easily see what I have at a glance. With the added embellishments they are not just useful, but pretty as well…and who doesn't like attractive storage solutions? 
Speaking of decorative storage solutions, I inherited a whole bunch of old buttons from my Grandma & my Mother-in-law and they were just sitting in a box, so I decided to put them in these antique canning jars that had been sitting in my fruit cellar. The buttons are in the two smallest jars and the largest one holds scraps of ribbon from the end of spools...same goes for the clear canister next to it. That one I decorated with some SU! rub-ons to make it a little cuter. These sit on top of my wood mount stamp shelving unit (it was a media shelf in it's previous life) below the window.

On the wall next to the window is a future project of mine...
I'd like to fill this antique printer’s drawer with little stamped images, old photos and trinkets that mean something to me. As you can see...I have a few things in it...hopefully I'll share more in the near future. Across from my desk is my cutting station and my closet.
The antique sideboard is where I keep my Big Shot and paper trimmer. We inherited the sideboard after it didn't sell at my Mother-in-Law's estate sale because nobody liked the color it was painted. LOL...it doesn't match my room exactly...but close enough, so it ended up working out well for me! You can read more in this post
See the pretty box covered in cone flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies drawn by Susan Winget? I just love her work! I picked that up on sale a Joann's one day hoping that it would fit my embossing folders.
If the box was just about ¼” taller it would have been absolutely perfect, but it is still working out pretty good for me. (I just cannot buy too many more embossing folders!) It looks pretty when not in use, but when I need an EF it's right there at my fingertips. Same goes for the bin that holds my framelits...I shared more in this post about organizing framelits. That bin was from the Target Dollar Spot just like the previous ones I showed you. It doesn't hold the larger Thinlit Card Dies but for the regular size it's perfect. I keep the larger and out of season framelits in the drawer under my Big Shot.


I hope you enjoyed this peek into my Stampin' Space. Sharing my space with you from time to time helps me to stay on track with keeping it better organized…we all need a kick in the pants sometime, right!? ;-)  Hopefully there was an idea or two that you found useful.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Peaceful Petals in a Chaotic Workspace

Towards the end of my last post I stated, "With our power back on, our houseguests back in North Carolina, and my hubby back at work after a week long vacation I finally have time to get into my stamp room and play with some new stuff!!! " Boy, was I dreaming! I walked into my room planning to stamp and unfortunately this is what I was met with...


I think the last time I was in here must have been to dump stuff on my desk to get it "out of the way". There was scraps of paper, partially made cards, stamped images & die cuts that didn't end up making it onto a card, and even Christmas wrapping supplies thrown onto every flat surface available. Forget about having a friend able to sit at my desk to stamp with me...there wasn't even room for me to stamp!
I have a hard time keeping all my scraps in check on a regular basis, but with the added busyness of the holidays, our power outage (yes...I'll keep blaming the power outage for all of my shortcomings! ;-) and houseguests I really let my room go unorganized. Normally, I like to keep the area behind where I sit (shown above) fairly clear so I can put my laptop there or pages that I'm working on...but as you can see all sorts of junk had taken over this prime space.

This is the view of my storage closet and cutting station from my seat. Luckily the closet was kept neat, but my cutting station was another story. Needless to say, I had to clean up before I could even think about stamping. I did reward myself after "finding" my desk top and I took a time out to create something with my favorite new goodies from the new Occasions Catalog. Check it out...

I used the pretty new set Peaceful Petals along with new DSP...Watercolor Wonder. I love the soft watercolor feel of this paper and used two patterns on my card and for the background in my photo. Here's a closer look at the watercolored flower.
Cosmos are one of my most loved annuals, so this image is probably my favorite in the set. The leaf image is separate, and not the proper foliage for Cosmos, but I took creative licence and added it anyways. 

Now that I've had my stampin' fix...it's back to my not so fun task...finishing my organization  project. Although it's not much fun, I have to admit, it's worth the effort because it's so much easier to work in a space that is clean and well organized...and what better time to get more organized in the New Year!

Check back on Wednesday for my Workspace Wednesday posting showing the after photos of my re-organized rubber room. If the rest of you have problems keeping all your unused stamped images, die cut & punched pieces & card parts in order like I do, you may find it helpful.