Barbara's Stampin' Studio

Blushing with Hope & Strength

Did you know that my purchasing this pretty stamp set you will automatically be doing something for breast cancer research? It's true!

For every sale of this special stamp set, Stampin' Up is donating $2.00 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

It's such a pretty and versatile set and I've made many cards with it. You can see the others by clicking on the category Specials & Promotions on the left of this screen.

Here is another idea that I made recently using primarily the In Color, Blushing Bride.

To start, I used my Big Shot with the Flower Garden Impressions Embossing folder with Blushing Bride card stock for the background.

I added to it by stamping the word image, also in Blushing Bride, all along the edges of the impressed flower image, on both sides.

I stamped the butterfly image in So Saffron, cut it out and mounted it with Dimensionals. Of course I had to add Bling, so I added Pearls down the center.

I also stamped the wording in So Saffron and punched it out with the Decorative Label punch, and mount it on another punch piece of So Saffron (I cut it in half and added it to the top and bottom for more Oomph)

To finish, I put a piece of Blushing Bride ribbon along the left side.

 

Team Summer Mini cards to share

I wanted to share just a couple of the cards my team made this month for our monthly swap.

This month we all used stamps and products from the Summer Mini catalog and everyone did a great job. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us.

This first one was made by Cindy Villa and is so cute!

Cindy used the Summer Splash stamp set and embossed the sea animals in white, a Square Scallop punch, the Modern Label punch and for the background, she used her Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.

This card was created by Sandy Holleman and is oh, so pretty!

Sandy used the Flower Fest stamp set that she embossed with the new embossing powders, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi.

She used a strip of Beyond the Garden Designer paper, the Scallop Edge Border punch and made the background with her Big Shot and the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder too!

Great cards ladies! Thanks for sharing!

Impressive Flower Garden

I love using Vellum paper with the Impressions Folders, but this one takes to it so well!

This is the new Flower Garden Impressions Folder that's in the Summer Mini and all I did was run it through my Big Shot, turn it upside down, and colored it in using Daubers and ink pads.

Yes! It's that simple!

For this card, I used Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait card stock and backed the vellum piece with some of the In Colors Designer Paper, this one in Peach Parfait.

I did the rushing technique with the Old Olive Satin ribbon for extra punch.

Pretty card, and pretty easy too! Try it!

Sunny Fun Kids at Play

Flip Flops, Kids, and Popsicles ~ What says more about summer?

Sunny Fun is the set that has all three & it's available in the Summer Mini catalog thru the end of August.

Here is a card I made when I had some down time a few weeks ago. I used Stampin' Pastels for the sun and water and used a Scallop Circle punch as a template for the clouds. The kids are colored using my watercolor pencils and a Blender Pen.

 

I wanted a bright background so I decided to use my Square Lattice Impressions Folder and my Big Shot with Daffodil Delight card stock.

For the word piece backing I used one of the shapes from the new Doily Triple Layer Punch. This punches 3 different shapes all in one punch! Ya gotta love it!

Although it's tough to see here, I added Crystal Effects for drops of water and also for the sunglasses on the kid on the left.

 

Help Fight Breast Cancer in a Beautiful Way!

This card was made with the pretty Hope & Strength stamp set.

Every time this set is ordered, Stampin' Up donates $2.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Please do your part and order this stamp set today so we can go farther in the fight against Breast Cancer. Thanks!

To make this card I used my Beyond the Garden Designer Paper and embossed it with my Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder.

The butterfly is stamped with Perfect Plum ink and I've added a few Ice Circle Rhinestones to add a little Bling!

The ribbon is Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding and I used a Paper Daisy, with another Rhinestone, to finish it off.

Hope you like it!

Flower Garden in Plum with Pearls

Last week I had my monthly Technique class and decided to show two very different types of embossing ~ Heat Embossing and Dry Embossing.

I showed 2 ways with the new Flower Garden Impressions Embossing Folder and 2 ways with the new Colored Emboss Powders.

This technique is super simple and can be done with Designer Paper or Card Stock, here I used the Perfect Plum Designer paper.

To do this technique, put the Plum paper into your Flower Garden Impressions Embossing Folder and put it through your Big Shot.

Lay it flat on the table and use your Sanding Block to sand off the color on the embossed image. I added Pearls to my flowers and used the Scallop Trim Border Punch with some Organdy Ribbon to finish it off.

Try it! It's easy and quick too!

Impressive Sail Away Idea

I wanted to create an Impressive Embossing card for my class that could be used for a guy. Most of the time, I end up using flowers with this technique and I knew that wouldn't do.

Here I chose to use several sizes of Circle punches in Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy, Always Artichoke and More Mustard, you know, the "guy" colors.

I put a strip of Very Vanilla card stock onto my quarter piece of Night of Navy that I wanted to use for the base and started punching out circles. I layered the circles randomly and placed them onto the background and then ran everything through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.

You can use a variety of stamp images to suit the fella you're sending it to.

Here are just two suggestions:

This is the Sail Away stamp from the Summer Mini done vertically

and this is the Totally Tool set done in a horizontal fashion

Always Collage

One of my favorite styles of papercrafting is Collage.

Collage is basically a layering on of different images and textures, some one on top of another and the Always stamp set seems to be made for it.

Here I've used 7 of the 11 pieces from the Always stamp set, along with the Scallop Heart of Hearts Embosslit, Satin ribbon, Flower Brads, Pearls and a couple of punches too.

Oh! and I also used the Wonderfully Worn background stamp!

The colors I chose are Pacific Point, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Pretty in Pink.

Go grab your stamps and try it!

 

Impressive Embossed Flower Fest

Ever since I started doing this technique, I've called it Impressive Embossing, but I know most of you know it as Embedded Embossing. Why Impressive Embossing? Because you use your Impressions folder and Emboss it, and I like the sound of it too.

Here is my Flower Fest card that I created using the Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder. I stamped my flowers and punched some of them out, taped them to the background piece and sent it through my Big Shot with the Impressions folder.

I used the words from Happy Greetings in the Summer Mini and punched it out with the Scallop Oval, mounting it onto a Melon Mambo Wide Oval Punch piece.

I stamped the butterfly from the Flower Fest set in Pacific Point, punched the wings using the Butterfly Punch, but had to hand cut the body, and did not embed it so that it would stand out. Add some Old Olive Satin ribbon and it was done!

Whaddayathink?

Fun Flower Embossed Tote

Here is the tote that we made at my Embedded Embossing class 2 weeks ago.

I used the Petals a Plenty Impressions Embossing Folder and embedded the Fun Flower pieces into it. I also used the Square Scallop die with my Big Shot too!

I know, I know, I used the Springtime Vintage paper from the Occasions and it's not available any more. I loved it so much I bought several packs and I still have a couple upopened ones around, and remember, I did this at the end of April when it was available.

I also used the Sew Suite Buttons (not available) and the Fun Flower die (still available) from the Occasions Mini.

To make the front of the tote, I cut the Square Scallop Clear die out of Melon Mambo card stock first.

Then I cut out the Fun Flower with Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink, using just 1 flower from each color. I punched the "leaves" using my Large Oval punch and taped my flower together. After that was done, I taped it on to my Vintage paper and put the whole thing through my Big Shot with the Petals a Plenty Impressions Folder.

Next, mount it to the Square Scallop, add a third flower, curled up with a Bone Folder, and add a Sew Suite Button with Pretty in Pink 1/8" Taffeta for the center.

Way cute and fun too!

Embedded Butterflies

I love this Embedded Embossing technique and had a class a couple of weeks ago where we made a cute tote and 4 cards.

I'll be posting more in the next few days, but my time is extremely limited lately, but I'll soon get back to "normal" . . . whatever that is!

Most of the Embedded ideas I have seen have been done with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder, but I happen to like using the Vintage Wallpaper Folder.

To make this card, I used the Paisley Petals paper and my Beautiful Butterflies die, cutting out just the 2 single butterflies. I then taped them onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Embossing Folder.

I then used the same paper with my Beautiful Wings Embosslit, which is great! It cuts and embosses at the same time! I adhered the little butterflies on the card and of course, just HAD to add Pearls to everyone's bodies, didn't I?

To finish it off, I added a piece of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, mounted it to a Cherry Cobbler quarter piece and added it to my Pacific Point card base and WhaLa! It's ready to pop in the mail!

Pretty Postage in Razzleberry

I love the new Postage Punch that came out in the Summer Mini and, of course, the Pretty Postage stamp set that coordinate with it.

Here I used the Sweet image with the Raspberrys, or are they Razzleberrys?

I stamped the image in Rich Razzleberry and colored in the leaves with my Garden Green marker. After punching them out, I layered them onto Garden Green Curly Label punch pieces and used my Perfect Polka Dot Impressions Folder for the background.

The words are from another new stamp set, Happy Greetings, also in the Summer Mini. For the words, I used my Decorative Label punch.

Don't be afraid of color ~ Go Bold with the Paisley Petals paper

This Paisley Petals print is another favorite of mine. I love the boldness of the colors and the largeness (is that even a word?) of the print.

I created this card for my friend Ruth's swap last week. The theme of the swap was to use the Clearly for You stamp set and I just had to incorporate the Paisley Petals paper too.

I went bold with colors using Pacific Point, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze and Cherry Cobbler.

What all did I use?

I used the Paisley Petals paper, that's the strip on the left side

I used my Big Shot with the Tulip Impressions Folder on the right side

The Cleary for You stamp set from the Occasions Mini

Peach Parfait and Cherry Cobbler ribbons

Lots of punches, Scallop Trim Border, Scallop Oval, Large and Small Ovals

and don't forget the Pearls! Ya gotta have 'em!

 

Fun Flowers, Four Frames and Elegant Soiree too!

Here is a card I made using some left over Soft Suede Fun Flowers pieces from another project. The Fun Flower pieces were put through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice Impressions Folder for extra texture.

I decided to pair the flowers with my favorite Elegant Soiree paper and used the Four Frames image with the bird to say Hello. To back the frame image, just punch out another Decorative Label piece, cut it in half and add it to either side.

I added a bit of Victoria Crochet trim and a Marina Mist Flower brad to complete it.

Hope you like it.

 

Pink Polka Dot Cupcakes

I have always loved Polka Dots and had lots of fun making this card using the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder with the Polka Dot Four Frame image and even added pink polka dots on the frosting too.

This card was soooo easy to make using the fab Build a Cupcake punch, ya just gotta try it!

I used the Springtime Vintage paper for the cupcake bottoms and added some Chantilly Crochet trim for texture.

For the pink cherries, just punch them out with Pretty in Pink card stock and color the stem using your Old Olive marker, oh so easy!

So yummy you almost wanna take a bite!

Impressed Butterflies

I was in a springy mood and was playing around with my Big Shot and came up with this card. I used my Floral Bouquet and Finial Press Impressions Embossing Folders, along with 2 punches, a few sponges, and here you go!

Beveled Windowpane Tutorial and Idea

I know, I know, I promised a tutorial on the Beveled Windowpanes, but I've just been way too busy with classes, taxes and life that I haven't had a chance to do the photographs, so here's what I'm gonna do.

Since I'm in create mode for my upcoming classes, and some challenges too, I'm going to design with the Beveled Windowpanes in mind and do the tutorial for the 5 different ways to attach them as I go.

It may be a couple of days before they are all here, but here's a start!

I made this card for Create with Connie & Mary's Inspiration Challenge.

The inspiration was a gorgeous cake that was blue, yellow and cream with lots of stripes, bows and swirls. Here's my idea:

 

And here's the Beveled Windowpane Tutorial ~

I have found 5 different methods to using these Beveled Windowpanes

    ~ I call this the Ribbon Hanger ~

First stamp your word and mount as you choose

I used my Small, Large and Scallop Oval Punches

Put ribbons through the ribbon slots on the Beveled Windowpane

Here I chose Very Vanilla Satin, using a 4" length for both, but yours will depend on where your word lays on your project

Second, mount your word piece on your project as shown

Lay your windowpane over the word and put ribbon over top of card

Tape ribbon to back of card ~ I use mono adhesive

Tie the bottom ribbons as shown ~ I chose 1/8" Taffeta in Very Vanilla

Now flip the window off the card, it'll make sense with the next photo

 

Place a Mini Glue Dot on the ribbon to hold in place 

I like to use my Paper Piercing Tool as you see here

 

Now put it over the word, pull ribbons, and push on the glue dot to hold in place and

You're done!

Another tutorial coming soon!

Beveled Windowpane fit for a Queen!

Don't you know someone who deserves to be a Queen?

I created this card using a lot of my favorite things.

Two of my favorite colors, Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede, two of my favorite sets, You're a Gem and Clearly for You (both from the Occasions Mini), my favorite Big Shot product, Finial Press Impressions Folder and two of my favorite embellishments, Pearls and Beveled Windowpanes.

 

 

Here's what I used:

Stamps ~ You're a Gem, Clearly for You and Bella Toile

Card Stock ~ Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake

Punches ~ Eyelet Border, Ovals, Scallop Oval, 1" Circle, and Ticket Corner

Big Shot with Finial Press Impressions Embossing Folder

Embellishments ~  Pearls, Beveled Windowpane, Vintage Tag, & Cherry Cobbler ribbon

 

Four Frames with Fun Flowers

I was playing around with my Four Frames over the weekend and wanted to use my Elegant Soiree Designer paper.

I had some Soft Suede Fun Flower pieces in a baggie from another project and thought I'd use them together and here's what I turned out.

I decided on the little polka dot print paper as my background and used another strip of the striped paper as an accent. To add to the accent strip I used my Eyelet Border punch with Baja Breeze card stock and layered it onto a strip of Not Quite Navy.

I stamped my frame image in Not Quite Navy and added the word with Soft Suede. I punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch (it's in the Occasions Mini) and punched another out of Baja Breeze card stock which I cut in half and mounted to both ends.

I had already cut out the Fun Flowers, but I decided to put them through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder to add more texture. I also did this with the flower centers.

To finish the card, I added a piece of Marina Mist Taffeta ribbon down the side and added a bit of Victoria Crochet Trim and a Marina Mist Flower brad.

Kimono Kids with Impressions

I've taken some time for myself this week and have been in my Stampin' Studio working on lots of projects and decided to try some of the challenges that I always see people doing.

I love challenges and had a great time working with the different sketches and color combinations that were required.

Here is a card I created with one of Split Coast Stampers Sketch Challenges. 

As part of the sketch, we were to layer on top of the base and then have the two triangles at top and bottom with the focal rectangle in the center.

I was in the mood to color, so I chose the set Kimono Kids for my focus. I stamped the girls in Basic Black and got out my Stampin' Markers and went to town!

I used Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze, Wild Wasabi and Rich Razzleberry.

Then I got out my Big Shot and all of my Impression Folders and decided to use the Finial Press with Rich Razzleberry as my background.I used the Square Lattice Impressions Folder for both the Daffodil Delight piece and the Wild Wasabi triangles.

I added some Black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon to finish it off.

Now on to the next Challenge!