Tropical Party Pendant Notes gift box...

At my stamp camp, we decorated three Pendant Notes like this and made a box (shown below) to hold them.

I borrowed the idea from http://stampercamper.com/, except she used the Fresh Cuts notecards and used a notecard for the top of her box.
My stampers could use any of the embossing folders (Polka Dots, Square Lattice, Finial Press) for the front of their three notecards. Then they stamped the flower from Tropical Party, cut it out and adhered it with a brad before adding a 4" square piece of Island Oasis paper inside.
The sentiment is from the Sock Monkey stamp set, and was punched with the Word Window punch, then layered on a Modern Label Punch.
For the envelopes, we used more Island Oasis paper snailed to the flaps to really make it look like a boxed set that belonged together.
We made the box from Rose Red and Whisper White card stocks. We used SNAIL to hold the Old Olive satin ribbon to the sides of the lid, then embellished the top with a square scallop (die for the Big Shot) in Pumpkin Pie, a 4" square piece of Island Oasis paper, and flowers and leaves from the Summer Mini die called Island Floral, with an ice rhinestone brad in the center.
My box of cards will be a teacher's gift. The end of school is fast approaching!

Bouquet Bunch tag card...

I won't be missing Really Rust at all, thanks to the new Cajun Craze color coming out July 1!

I used the Woodgrain background stamp on a piece of Really Rust, then punched it with the Scallop Edge Punch, piercing holes in each scallop.

This was the third card we made at my stamp camp.

I had many Kraft tags leftover from a Christmas stamp camp, and thought they'd be great for this card, with a jumbo eyelet and Kraft taffeta ribbon added for bling.

The sentiment is from the Define Your Life stamp set, and the plant is from the new Summer Mini Catalog set, it's called Bouquet of Bunches. And, again, this card was CASE'd from another talented stamper named Geobeck on Splitcoast.

Season of Friendship button card...

It's been awhile since I pulled Season of Friendship off my shelf to stamp, but when I realized I had an assortment of buttons to use, and saw a card similar to this on Mary Brown's blog, I thought it'd be fun to make at my stamp camp.

The card is Ballet Blue card stock. I stamped the tree in Close to Cocoa and the leaves in Always Artichoke, then added a variety of buttons with Mini Glue Dots.

I stamped the sentiment first before punching with the Curly Label Punch. I cut off the bottom part and added 5/8" Brocade Blue grosgrain.

Watercolor Trio with butterflies...

When I saw this card on Mary Fish's blog, I wanted to do it for my stamp camp Saturday.

This is a Whisper White card with a layer of Sage Shadow (retiring) and an embossed strip of Chocolate Chip that was run through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder in the Summer Mini (it's backordered right now).

This stamp is from the Watercolor Trio stamp set in the mini. We used Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue and Chocolate Chip markers to ink the rubber, then layered it on Brocade Blue and So Saffron card stocks.

Finally, we adhered a few butterflies from the Beautiful Wings embosslit were stuck on with Mini Glue Dots.

The sentiment is from Favorite Thoughts, also in the Summer Mini. It's adhered with dimensionals.

Elements of Style and Spotlighting with a Punch...

Like many demonstrators, I'm working my way through colors that are soon to retire.

The card base is Handsome Hunter, with the big floral spray from Elements of Style stamped in the same color ink. We stamped the spray a second time on scrap paper in Basic Brown ink and punched it out with the 1-1/4" circle punch.

There's a 1-3/8" circle of Handsome Hunter layered behind the colored flowers, which were watercolored (the reason we used Basic Brown) using Rose Red and Handsome Hunter ink pads.

A knot of Chocolate Chip satin ribbon finishes the card. Everyone chose a different sentiment.

Sweet Scoops Celebrate card...

My club members loved this card this month!

I CASE'd this card from Andrea Walford. Look under May 13 on her blog.

My version is a Whisper White card with Rich Razzleberry designer paper, a strip of Rich Razzleberry card stock (punched with the Eyelet Border Punch), matching ribbon and ink.

For the ice cream, I used the Sweet Scoops set in the Summer Mini, stamping it once and then again on a scrap piece of paper. The cone is stamped in Creamy Caramel (retiring!). The cone and scoops are adhered with dimensionals.

Finally, the sentiment is from the Celebrate Everything stamp set.

Kim Cracked Glass Technique with Elements of Style...

The Bermuda Bay on this square card pops!

Kim's club members made this cracked glass card recently with the Elements of Style stamp set in the Summer Mini Catalog.

To do the Cracked Glass Technique:

Stamp your image. Cover entire piece of card stock with VersaMark ink and heat emboss Glassy Glaze enamel. Do this step 3 times. After it cools, simply bend card stock till it cracks!

Emerging Color Technique with the Medallion stamp...

Emerging Color Technique looks more difficult than it is. We started with a piece of Whisper White card stock, and stamped three images on it in Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal inks.

Then we inked the Medallion stamp in VersaMark, stamping it over the white card stock and clear embossing it. Finally, we brayered over the top of the white layer with Perfect Plum ink.

To finish the card, we added a rhinestone brad in the middle of the Medallion, added a knot of Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon and a Wide Oval punched sentiment that's adhered with dimensionals. I borrowed this idea from Splitcoast.

Faux Metal Technique with All a Flutter...

This Bashful Blue card features a technique called Faux Metal. The idea is to build up a few layers of silver (or gold) embossing powder, then pressing a stamp into them.

Faux Metal Technique: We started with a rectangle of Whisper White card stock. Pressing the VersaMark pad upside down onto the card stock, we coated it with silver embossing powder, tapping off the excess and heating. You repeat the VersaMark and embossing two more times, then ink the All a Flutter stamp with VersaMark before pressing it into the warm layers. Using VersaMark on the rubber just helps it release easier.

We punched out the butterfly with the 1-3/4" circle punch, added silver cord and adhered it to a Bashful Blue-brayered Top Note from the Presto specialty paper pack with dimensionals.

Spotlighting technique with King of the Grill...

I love a good man stamp set, and King of the Grill fits the bill. It's got sayings like the one shown, as well as "Happy Birthday" and "Happy Father's Day."

This Certainly Celery card has a strip of Tempting Turqoise card stock with a jumbo silver brad, and a sentiment punched with the Modern Label Punch. It's adhered with dimensionals.

For the Spotlighting Technique: I stamped the large image in Basic Gray twice, punching a 1-1/4" circle out of the second image, which was stamped on scrap paper. I used markers to color in the circle, layering it on a 1-3/8" Tempting Turqoise circle before adhering it over the first image. The layer under that is Taken with Teal.

Bouquet Bunch and Square Lattice folder...

I'm a big fan of embossing folders. They're so fun and easy to use and really add so much texture to a handmade card.

This Very Vanilla card, CASE'd from klompenstampers.blogspot.com, features the Bouquet Bunch stamp set from the Summer Mini, the Square Lattice embossing folder for the Big Shot, and Kind & Caring Thoughts (Level 3 hostess set).

I used 3" and 4" strips of Garden Green card stock that are only 1" wide. The pot and foliage were stamped and colored on scrap pieces of Very Vanilla card stock before being adhered with dimensionals to the stick to make the potted tree. There's a layer of Chocolate Chip card stock behind it.

Tropical Party card...

I love the bright colors in the Island Oasis designer series paper pack.

And the Tropical Party stamp set, also in the Summer Mini, goes hand-in-hand with the paper.

I borrowed this idea from Connie Babbert. Look under May 4 on her blog. It's an Old Olive card with a 4" x 3-3/4" piece of this fun umbrella paper.

I used one of the stamps from the Everything Nice set, inking it up with Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise and Rose Red markers.

The coconut and one flower were cut out and popped up with dimensionals, as well as the top two layers of the card. Fun stuff!!!

Watercolor Trio meets Poppin' Pastels technique...

Watercolor Trio is a stamp set that immediately caught my eye in the Summer Mini Catalog. In addition to the beautiful foliage and a small butterfly, there are three word stamps in the set.

This Almost Amethyst card features a layer of Close to Cocoa with a knot of white taffeta, and a Whisper White layer on top that's been sponged with Close to Cocoa ink.

All of the floral/foliage images were stamped in VersaMark ink. This is the first part of the Poppin' Pastels Technique. Then we took cotton balls to our pastels and dabbed and rubbed the colors where we wanted them for a soft and pretty look.

I used the large and scalloped oval punches for the sentiment, popping it up with dimensionals.

Cheryl wins our American Ink 3d Contest!

There was no question of Cheryl winning this month's American Ink 3d Contest when she showed up with this incredible explosion box.

There are so many details, I'm including four photos... and still I didn't show everything!

Cheryl used punches, and embosslit, Garden from the Heart, Country Morning (hostess set) and Whimsical Words stamp sets, and much more. The designer paper is from the Tea Party pack.

There's so much detail in this box, it's truly a wonder!

Congratulations Cheryl!!!

Big Flower Punch gift bag...

Sherry made this cute gift bag for our American Ink group's monthly 3d Contest. She used the Big Flower Punch with five different colors of tissue paper, then added a rhinestone brad for "bling."

I love the details on this bag. The paper on the bottom part of the bag is from the Sweet Pea pad. The Scallop Trim Border Punch was used on the Tempting Turquoise strips. And the Whisper White layer was embossed (Finial Press folder) using the Big Shot.

Our American Ink group meets the second Saturday of every month. If you'd like to join us, please contact me!

Thanks,

Terry

Bitty Buttons cruise make & take...

Well, by now you know we're back from the Stampin' Up! cruise to the Southern Caribbean. It was wonderful! I highly recommend cruising... it's a wonderful way to see the world.

Stampin' Up! offered us a general session, a Share Night, and make & takes during cruise week.

Our make & takes were a journal (I'll take a photo of that in the next couple of days to post here) and this card. And though we received a stamp set, I used the Summer Mini stamp set Itty Bitty Bits, along with Bitty Buttons and the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack so I could do this as a make & take at our American Ink meeting today.

This card features Pear Pizzazz card stock, along with Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight (upcoming new Core Colors), as well as Soft Suede. The card and satin ribbon are Bashful Blue.

There are 64 buttons in the Bitty Buttons container! That rocks. We put linen thread through the three different buttons on this card and adhered everything (buttons to card stock and card stock to card stock with Mini Glue Dots).

Denise's Herb Expressions...

My fourth upline, Denise, gave Kim and I a card on the SU! cruise, along with some chocolates and beach mats. She's so thoughtful!

This Whisper White card uses the Herb Expressions stamp set, along with the Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Three Flower Punch, jumbo white brad and white gel pen. (Sorry the corner got tweaked - just noticed that! I'm sure it happened when I put the card in my bag for the long trip home.)