Sale-A-Bration "Hey Chick"

As most of you know, I have three bird dogs, including Emma and her offspring: Nelson and Annie. Springers are "flushers," which means they flush birds from brush for the hunter. And if you've been to stamp camp recently you know of our "chicken perils," with the neighborhood chickens roaming into our yard driving the dogs nuts. Well, we've fenced in the property and nicely notified the neighbor whenever the chickens are here and I think they realized that they need to find a way to keep their chickens in their own yard.

With all of this said, it should surprise you to find that when I saw the Stampin'Up! Sale-A-Bration set, "Hey Chick," that I was destined to have it. I don't think chickens are colored this crazy but I saw this card that another demonstrator did and had to laugh. This chick is just too funny to ignore! Thanks to Diana Gibbs for the inspiration for this card! I had to improvise, as you'll see in the video because I didn't have the paper she used, and I left out a piece of black and white paper she used, but I loved the color combination! Here's my version and a video of how I made it.

I've just received my new stamps for the January Occasions catalog and the SAB catalog. There is one set that, although I'm sorry to have to tell you all, you will want! I've been looking around at what other demonstrators have done with this set and found a demonstrator in Holland that has done some fabulous collages with it.

I know you've been asking for collages and the reason we don't do very many at stamp camp is because it takes a lot of different stamps and quite a bit of time with lots of colors. I've chosen
one of her color combinations and we will do this in January. Her name is Ingrid Onkijk and her blog is here for you to check out her other color combos: http://stamp-ing.blogspot.nl

Here's my version of the card that we will do in January. Sorry, I forgot to change the title from "My Movie." Someday I'll get this blogger and youtube all figured out. I am using a new editor and I still haven't figured out the naming of the film!!

Well before you know it January will be here! (That means more snow!! Ugh!) Anyway, I made a quick video for you so you can see one card I'm planning for then. So you get a sneak peek!! Enjoy!

There is no stamp camp in December since this is such a busy month for everyone and I wish you all a Blessed Christmas with your family and friends! I am looking forward to January already for stamping projects and will soon post a video of a simple single-layer card we will be doing!

Here is the "Merry Mouse" card we will be making in October! I'll have Versafine pads for sale if you don't have one.

Cracked Glass Technique:
In October we are making a "rustic" Christmas card that uses the "cracked glass' technique. Here's the video to show you how:

Faux Patina Card - This is the video for the card we will be making in September:

We will also be making this thin "Joy Shaker card":

All stamp images used are copyright Stamping' Up!

Part 1: Partial Die Cutting

The following video shows how to use the circle dies with the Big Shot to cut a partial circle. Since I wanted the weeds from the Wetlands set to hang over the image of the truck and be a part of the frame, I thought this was the best way to do that.

Part 2: Coloring the truck: 

This video is in fast motion so you won't have to wait forever to see this slow process! There are a couple of things you should know about coloring with colored pencils. First is the brand must be a brand with a higher wax content so that they blend easily. I am using Prismacolor pencils. If you don't like the pencil scratch marks on your coloring then you should consider purchasing the Prismacolor blending pencil. This pencil is rubbed over the colors to make them blend together and pushes the pigment around so that is is a much more even color. Let me say, I am NOT an artist and I can get pretty good results with these.  Another thing to note is that you should always color with sharp pencils. The amount of color added depends on the pressure you use, not the point of the pencil. Finally, since I am a stamper and use dye based (water based) ink on this card also, any sponging with ink should be done BEFORE you color with the pencils as the wax in the pencils will repel the ink. 

Part 3: Putting It all Together

 The final video just shows what I did to finish the card.

Acrylic Block Technique

The following video shows the technique we will be using at our June stamp camp. Get more use from your acrylic blocks by using them to put watercolor backgrounds on watercolor paper. I would not recommend using this on plain cardstock. I have not tried it on the "shimmery white" cardstock and don't think it would work as well as you need the water and ink to absorb into the paper. I've used the shimmery white cardstock to watercolor on and it works well with markers as well as the watercolor brushes, however it does not hold up as well.

New Stamping' Up! catalog:

June 1st is the first date you can order from the new Stamping' Up! catalog. I've already ordered things to arrive before our June stamp camp date and can't wait to show them to you. Don't forget to sign up (find the link at the bottom right of the page).

"Sitting Here"

Here's one of the cards we are making at June stamp camp and following is a video on how we are using the MISTI stamping tool to make it. If you are coming to camp you need to watch the video to the end as the MISTI will be all set up for you ahead of time.

All images are Copyright Stampin' Up!

Here's the video:

It seems when life gets busy, blogging doesn't happen! Well, I'm back and will try to keep up with this blog. Stamping is a hobby but if you want to do it right, I guess, you keep up with it and I am working on some videos to explain how to do some techniques that might be of interest to stampers, especially those who attend my camps. So, here goes:

The first card I'd like to show you how to make is a technique that is not stamping at all, but a way to use your die cuts. I am using the Rose Wonder die set from Stampin' Up! All inks and other things in the video are from Stampin' Up! unless I specify otherwise. The little black foam pad was discontinued years ago but you can use a pad made from "fun foam" instead.