Polished to Perfection

TLC160 Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!  This week I thought I would try the TLC160 Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers as part of my design element.  For complete instructions on how to create this great negative effect using your cuttlebug A2 embossing folder visit the Splitcoast forum here. I decided to play off the small white polka dots in the stripe of my Merry Merry Argyle from One Heart One Mind by using the TLC160 negative effect with my new Swiss Dot A2 Embossing Folder from Cuttlebug. I created this effect by inking a brayer with Versamagic Orchid and applying the ink to the negative side of my cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I placed a piece of white cardstock into the folder and dry embosssed it. Using this technique the embossed areas remain white and the the none embossed areas pick up your favorite color of ink. Here is a closeup of the card:

This Great Easter Egg Tree is from Serendipity Stamps.  I stamped my image with Adriondack Pitch Black and then I used the following Copic Color Combinations to color my design:

Yellows: YO2,Y15, Y38   Yellow Oranges:YR65  Red Violets: RV00, RV02, RV06, RV29, RV34 Greens: G17, G21,  Yellow Greens: YG03, YG45  Earthtones: E33, E97  Blue Violets BV00, BV01 Violet: V04, V09

Next I used my Spica Microglass flake pens to add a little bling to the eggs on my tree.  I used My Spellbinders Circle Nestabilies to diecut my design and a second dark pink cardstock mat which I placed as a mat for my design. I decide to shift the dark pink mat off center on my card to color balance the Cute - Easter Chick paper from Karen Foster Designs.  The floral ribbon is from American Crafts. To pull my design together I used small scraps of my striped paper to accent my swiss dot print.   I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!! Thanks for visiting!!

Go Bananas!! with your JustRite Monogram Stamper

This weekend was my nephew Justin's 8th Birthday.  Using these fun monkeys and trees that I found in the stationary department of Target, I decided to design Justin a personalized Birthday Bag and Card.  And as you can see I am going Bananas - with my JustRite Monogram Stamper.   Using my small letter set I designed the following tag for my gift bag and card:

I stamped the JustRite Monogram stamper image on pa624 Chatham from One Heart One Mind. The lime green card base is pa623 bristol ,the turquoise paper that I matted the tropical squares with is pa620 preston from the One Heart One Mind Collection (FORMALITY). I love the variation of color within each color of the formality line.  The variation adds depth to my designs. I used my Spellbinders Scalloped Circle Nestabilities to die cut the image from my monogram stamper.  Then I used a slightly larger scalloped circle to cut and dry emboss Cinnamon Cardstock from WorldWin to mat my saying.  The fun tropical paper is RMSCB184 - Mosaic Paper from Sandy Lion. Next, I personalized my card and bag with my newest JustRite Toy!!  Which you are gonna love.  It is a pre-inked black 1" Typewriter Uppercase Font Alphabet which will stamp over 20,000 impressions per letter!! without re-inking!!  No that isn't a typo!!! 20,000 impressions!!

The letters are so convenient, easy to use and to store.The letters come in this great case, and stack on top of each other.  Simply chose your letter and stamp.  I loved the bold clean lines of this Alphabet....and I loved that I could quickly personalize both his card and his gift.   

Here is a closer view of the individual letters- can you believe that this thin sliver of a pre-inked stamp will make 20,000 impressions before it runs out of ink!! That's technology at it's best!!

Tutorials of Note:I found this great card while surfing the Splitcoast Stampers Site tonight - Isn't it gorgeous!!  For directions on how to make this great card visit http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/2008/03/calling-all-cupcake-lovers.html , She has a great blog with tons of great cards - enjoy your visit!!

Thanks for visiting!!

Jack's Product Review of the JustRite Monogram Stamper

Just as I predicted Jack loves my JustRite Monogram Stamper.   Within hours of waking up on Saturday morning Jack spotted my stack of Provo Craft Band aid boxes and asked if he could have one to keep his money in.  I suggested we alter it  which he thought was a great idea. He chose his favorite Murdock Country Creations paper -Nature's Gift.  He measured all the dimensions (Since Dad is a carpenter - he is learning how to read a tape measure) and carefully covered his box.  This is the box he designed. 

His review of my new toy went something like this: Way cool!!, Sweet!! Awesome!! and when can we make our next project!!!

A raving review from a 10 year old!! He loved the fact that he could design his own saying and put his initial in the center of his saying.  The letters from the small letter set are tiny but he patiently placed them all in place by himself.  So if you haven't taken yours out of the box yet- you don't know how much fun you are missing!! Just ask Jack!!

This was a great design project for him as he had to count the number of letters in his design and find the center letter and figure out how to place them on the rim so that they would be nicely spaced.  He also had to place them on the rim in reverse. He wanted to know how many people had already seen the Easter bottle with his name on it since it had been posted.  And he was very specific that I show you all the sides of his Stash box so here is the front:

He insisted that I take a photograph which showed your the cool ribbon on the side.  He also informed me that Polka dotted ribbon was way to girlie for him.  Guess mom will be investing in some more masculine trim in the near future.   I was so excited that we were able to spend some fun quality time designing together...that I was walking on clouds for several hours!!  I love that my entire family is involved in the design process and  really gets it!!  Once he had stamped his image then he used my Circle Scalloped Nestabilities to die cut his image and dry emboss it with my Cuttlebug...another toy Jack hadn't played with yet but loved.  Then we decided to chalk the edge of the diecut with blue pearlescent chalk from Pebbles Inc. to give the diecut more depth.

Didn't it come out great!!

Tips for using the small letter set with the monogram stamper -During my first class, Sharon came up with 2 great tips - Sharon thanks for letting me share them . 

Tips 1: When you open your set you should apply ink to the small letter set and stamp the whole set on a scrap of paper and keep it as a reference. Then clean them before you begin your project.

This will allow you to see which of the stamps are actually apostrophe's since it is almost impossible to figure this out when you are looking at them in reverse image when you are using them.

Tip 2: Once you have your letters placed in the channel in the rim - do not remove them to adjust the spacing.  Just simply place the tweezers which come with the set over the letter and move it in the channel.  This tip will save you a ton of time.   Thanks Sharon!!

Tip 3: Once you have designed your stamp with all these tiny letters, I recommend stamping extra images and setting them aside for additional projects.

I think Jack is a future blogger. What do you think???  He is so excited that his project will be on the internet. I am sure Jack would love to read a few comments on his project tomorrow!! (hint, hint!!)

Easter Favors - Nick's JustRite Monogram Stamper Bottle

The JustRite Monogram Stamper Easter Collection is growing....isn't this how my Paper Tree Marathon started??

Here is the Easter Favor I designed for Nick.  When designing your bottle, I recommend filling your bottle with candy first and choosing the color pallette for your design based on the candy filler. To add some texture to the bottle wrapper,  I used my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder to dry emboss the A2Z paper as well as my personalized tag that I made with the JustRite Monogram Stamper.  I love that the JustRite Stamper nest so nicely in my Scallop Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders.  For Nick's bottle I decided to repeat the design element of the jelly beans by added Easter Eggs to the bottle wrapper and the cap. 

The Eggs are from Outline Rubberstamps- sm squares Easter eggs.  I cut them out and colored them with my Spica MicroGlass Flake pens, which was way more fun then Dying Easter Eggs.  These eggs are the perfect size for the bottle and coloring them with Spica.

The boys are home safely and Jack thought his bottle was cool - but wanted to know if he could eat the entire contents at 1 am in the morning.  When he saw Nick's he was bummed that his bottle had Bunny Corn and not Jelly Beans. I had to explain to Jack the monogram letters on his cap - he was a little confused about why they were in that order.  Does anyone remember what year it was when it was the rage to where a monogram shirt??  I  am thinking it was 1982 ish.  Nick on the other hand is almost 12 and not so interested in what Mom is designing.

I would love to know what you are making for Easter Treats this year??

Here's a photo of the first projects my playmates made at my Frappuccino JustRite Monogram Stamper class:

Thanks Girls for letting me show off your terrific designs!!

Justrite Monogram Stamper Easter Bottle

Did you say Frappuccino??   I am not a coffee drinker at all, but ever since I saw my first altered Starbuck's Frappuccino Bottle on the blogs I have wanted a bottle or two to alter.  I  enjoyed the first 3 or 4 bottles which I drank over a course of a week. But in one evening I have already altered them all.  I am teaching this project tomorrow - and now I am faced  with the daunting task of having to chug back a 6 pack of Frappuccino's before my class. Which would mean consuming 2040 calories just for the love of art and my play group (340 yummy calories each).  Let's not even consider the resulting caffeine buzz.  Faced with this daunting temptation -I finally had a light bulb moment and I decided to visit my local bottle redemption center. There I purchased recycled bottles for a fraction of the cost and calories (The trainer's on the Bigest Loser - would be so proud!!)  Luckily the redemption center had just enough for my class and will be saving lots more for me!!!

I filled my bottle with Bunny Corn....yes Candy Corn is not just for Halloween anymore!!  This gave me the color palatte to design around.  Luckily both of my sons have 4 letter names, so I used the JustRite Monogram Stamper from last night's post and removed the letters- M O M and added J A C K.  I stamped the image on Formality PA623 Bristol from One Heart One Mind - I love the variation of color in this paper.  I then die cut the image with my scalloped circle nestabilities and added a little rhinestone bling.  I chose this whimsical paper from Best Creations to wrap my Frappuccino bottle and I used my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder to dry emboss the paper.  I love the embossed dots mixed in with the glitter dots.  For the larger scalloped circle I used the Bloom Dots Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder to dry emboss the blue cardstock.  To continue the polka dotted theme, I added ribbon from Creative Impressions to the neck of the bottle and the middle of my fun Polka Dot Paper.

As you may remember - Jack just turned 10, and this Christmas he signed all his thank you notes with his full name including his middle intial. (which so means he is growing up -UGH!!)  So I decided to Monogram the top of his bottle with his intials - He is gonna love it and best of all the boys are arriving tomorrow night for spring break - I can't wait for him to see my creation.

Check back in tomorrow to see the bottle I designed for NicK!!  Thanks for visiting!!

JustRite Monogram Stamper Easter Bouquet

In Maine, we are currently in the midst a winter which is breaking records for the most precipitation in a single winter-since they began recording precipitation in 1868. We have had it all ice, rain but- MOSTLY SNOW!!!  Enough snow that today friends from all over the country were emailing me that Maine's record winter was National News. This was amusing to my friends who reside in warmer climates, not so amusing to those of us who can't wait for it to be over. Several businesses this week have even had their roofs cave in.   So for all my readers out there near and far - here is a little gift of spring....I can't wait to see Tulips!! It might be May when they arrive...but I can't wait.

This project I designed as a gift for my Mom for Easter using the C-45 JustRite Monogram Stamper - my new favorite Toy!!  Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love toys with versatility. I can't tell you how many times I have almost ordered this monogram stamper. So I was so excited when I actual got to see it first hand a CHA.  It truly is an incredible Tool/Toy!!  And you will need to add it to your must have list.

The C-45  JustRite Monogram Stamper is self-inking.  It comes with a reversible ink pad (one side is black and the other side is uninked and dry).  This will allow you to use your favorite dye based re inker to ink the dry pad. The kit includes 2 sizes of 2 interlocking and interchangeable letters and four border designs.  You can create a three-letter monogram with or without a border, a 3 letter word (like Mom) or a one-letter monogram.

Directions on how to use the Monogram Stamper:

• Remove the cover off by gently pulling the cover.  The stamp will pop into full position when you do this.
• Place the stamper upside down and place the top of the stamper flat on your work area and push the white rim of the stamper all the way down. Lock the stamp into position by pushing the red buttons on the sides.
• Once the stamp is locked into place you are ready to design your image. You will design your image on a grooved base which your letters will snap into.  How cool is that!!

• Start with your border first. If you are using the circular border from the kit, hold the border in place with one finger as the other finger pushes the border into the groove. After the border is snapped into place run your finger over the entire border to ensure that it is flat.
• For my design, I used the C-45 small letters which is sold as an add on to your monogram stamper, to design my outside border. This set comes with a set of tweezers which will help you insert the tiny letters into the border groove. After you have placed all your letters in place and decided that you like the spacing of your letters run your fingers over the letters to ensure that they are all correctly snapped in place and that your design is flat.  When designing your image remember that your image needs to be designed in reverse (counterclockwise).

Design tip:  Before you begin to design your image place the lettering on the barrel of the stamper facing toward you.  When you are ready to stamp the image place the words facing you and stamp.  This little tip will ensure that you don't stamp your image upside down on a project.

• Next place your letters in the interior of the design and snap them in place.  Once your design is finished unlock the stamp by pushing down on the white rim. This releases the lock and the stamp will pop into the original position.
• The stamp will ink itself by flipping upside down and kissing the inked pad. (SWEET!!)
• When you take your stamp out of the box for the first time the dry side of the pad will be facing up.  When you are ready to stamp your first image you will need to reverse the pad to the black inked side.  To do this place the flat top of the stamper on your work surface. Push the red buttons as you push down on the white rim.  The stamp will lock into the first position/notch. Tip:  If you do not push the red buttons and lock the stamp into place you may dislodge your tiny letters when trying to remove the pad.  By locking the stamp into place you allow the pad to be far enough away that the pad can be removed without touching your design.
• Now remove your the stamp pad by pulling on the black handle. Pull out the pad, flip it over and re-insert the pad into the stamp. Now push the white rim slightly to release the lock again and you are ready to stamp. Flip the monogram stamper over and turn the writing toward you, using the palm of your hand press down on the top of the stamper and stamp your image. I recommend testing your image on scrap paper to ensure that all of your image is fully inked.  If your image is not fully inked check to ensure that your design is locked into place and flat.

Additional tip: To avoid contaminating your dry pad, make sure that you clean your stamp before you reverse the ink pad to the other side.

• To clean your stamp press down on the white rim and lock the stamp into place. Use a cleaner with a spray top and spritz the top of your image and gently clean it by rubbing it across a scrub pad. Place the cover back on your monogram stamper.  Store the stamp with the image locked in position and not with stamp resting on the ink pad as over time this will indent your ink pad and shorten its life span.

Now back to the project- I purchased this tin of flowers at AC MOORE.  The tin pail was plain and screaming for a little embellishment.   For the middle of the pail, I used a wide sheer green ribbon with white polka dots from Creative Impressions and tied it around the pail.  I decided that it needed an additional piece of wide ribbon, but I didn't own an orange sheer polka dotted ribbon...but I did own a white sheer ribbon with polka dots. So using my Copic Sketch Marker YR68- I airbrushed my white ribbon and voila - it was orange!!   

Next I added a yellow and white polka dotted ribbon to the top of the tin pail and a green and white ribbon to the bottom of the pail.  Using my newly designed Easter Stamp from my JustRite Monogram Stamper, I stamped my image on What's New Club Paper from A2Z Essentials and I die cut the image with my Scalloped Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders. Using the next die up in my scalloped nest I die cut a larger oval from Dulce - Antique Boutique also from A2Z Essentials.  To attach my tag to the floral arrangement I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the tin pail and in my tag and tied it with an orange and white polka dotted ribbon.  Now I get to enjoy my  Mom's Tulips for another 17 Days.

Can you believe Easter is only 17 days away???  Doesn't it seem a little early??  That's right Easter is March 23rd and it is actually the earliest Easter that any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives and the earliest it has ever been in our lives - unless you are 95!!  The last time it was this early was in 1913 and the next time it will be on March 23rd is in the year 2228 (220 years from now).  In 1818, it was actually on March 22nd and will be on March 22nd again in the year 2285.  I have always wondered how they calculated when Easter is and the answer is that Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20th). The dating of Easter is based on the Hebrew Lunar Calendar used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on the Roman Calendar.  This little trivia lesson is courtesy of Jacqueline Wallmark.  And who knows maybe this little piece of Easter Trivia will help someone win a million dollars some day.  Thanks Mom for the trivia lesson!!

Wouldn't this arrangement be great as a Wedding Centerpiece- with thank you written in the center and the bride and groom's name and wedding date placed around the rim. Or for a birthday gift - with Happy Birthday around the rim and the the persons age in the center!!  Or perhaps A Mother's Day gift, A get well gift or a teacher's gift???  The possibilities are endless and the best part of all is that you could design all those projects with this JustRite Monogram Stamper and the C-45 Small Letter Set!!  Now am I right?? You need to have a JustRite Monogram Stamper too! I  just love being an enabler!!

To view all the other great products from JustRite visit their website or ask your local retailer for the Justrite Monogram Stamper.

Rubber Stamp Tapestry's - CHA Introductions

For those of you who love Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Peg stamps - you will be excited to see that Susan has introduced ten new sets for Spring:

Spring Blooms, Rose Trio, Spring Offering, Peppermint Petunia, Yumy's Garden, Summer's Gold, Southern Dogwood, Moonlit Vase and Blue Eden.  These sets are now available in your favorite stores.  To view the new sets visit Rubber Stamp Tapestry.

Plus 5 new clear sets: Nature Plate 4, Nature Plate 5, Corner & Heart Doily, Tatting and Crochet and Fabric and buttons.  Here is a close up of Nature Plate 4:

Don't you just love this set!! Butterflies and beautiful vines and ferns.  This set will breathe new life into  your collection of Tapestry Peg Stamps.  The possibilities are endless.

It was so hard to decide which of the new sets to start designing with (since I loved all of them) as always the endless possibilities are swirling around in my head.

I began my card by stamping my sentiment in versamark and embossing it with Adriondack Clay Embossing Powder. The sentiments are from Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Word Plate 1- I love the versatility of this set. Notice that I left room to stamp a little of the delicate vine to the left and the right of my sentiment.
Next I stamped the delicate vines using an image from the New Nature Plate 4 clear stamp set. I stamped the vine using Versamagic- Hint of Pesto -this is a multi surface ink that looks like chalk and is available in dew drops.

The first  peg set I decided to play with is "Spring Offerings" I just adore the little vase. I decided to create the three beautiful bouquets of flowers which I framed using my scalloped nestabilities. I determined from my nest which scalloped oval would be the right size for 3 ovals on my 5" x 7" card. Then I cut and embossed the three ovals. In order to highlight the embossed edge of my ovals I placed a smaller scalloped oval inside my diecut oval (to work as a mask/stencil) and using Pebble's Shimmering Chalks I chalked the embossed edges of the scallop. I used my yellow shimmering chalks to color two of the scalloped diecuts and then I chalked the third image with a orange shimmering chalk.  This 3rd diecut will be my center image.

Next I placed my vase near the bottom of my scalloped oval diecut.  Using the VersaMagic Aloe Vera, I added tiny leaves to the vase.  Then I added tiny flowers using Versamagic - Mango Madness, Pink Grapefruit and Perfect Plumeria.  To give the vase additional depth and dimension, I chalked the right handside of the vase with mauve chalk.

For this design I really wanted a wide ribbon, but my assortment of wider ribbons was very limited - so I improvised and selected a section of paper from a sheet of paper from Best Creations which gave me a beautiful stripe to place behind my images.  I used foam strips to mount the diecut images on my card to add extra depth to the design. 

Sorry for the laspe in my posts....but don't worry- I have been busy playing with tons of new products - so stayed tuned....March will be filled with tons of new projects!!