Now I understand

I do have cards to show you, but I don't have them ready for you yet. Sorry.  I wanted to share a little note instead.

Since I won the World Card Making Day Contest with Papercrafts magazine I now get emails calling for submissions.  They sent me an email asking for submissions for the July issue already.  In the email is a disclaimer noting that the supplies that I use need to be available throughout 2014.  That makes it very hard because I use 97% of Stampin' Up products in my cards.  Everything in the catalog now has the potential for retiring by June of 2013.  This is hindering my future publication submissions.  I have always wondered why Stampin' Up was underrepresented in Papercrafts and Cardmaker magazines - now I know.

Don't get me wrong. I love Stampin' Up, but I am growing weary of them retiring everything.  I have several good friends that are demonstrators and they spend so much money buying new products all the time that they can never get ahead.  I have often wondered just what the breakdown is for their sales.  How much is customer sales and how much is demonstrator sales?  It seems to me that they make the most amount of money from demonstrators because they can't use retired products so they MUST buy new stuff all the time.

They are always pushing for more demonstrators in a market that is already saturated with too many demonstrators.  Of course, because in order to stay a demonstrator you have to spend $100.00 a month.  The more demonstrators you have the more GUARANTEED income the company has each month.

Again, I love Stampin' Up and I think highly of the way that the company is run and they are very positive.  I think I am just seeing the other side here.  Other companies keep their stamps around for years not months.  I can use their products in my cards without the worries of supplies retiring.

I think that I am going to start making a major shift in the products that I purchase from now on and I just wanted to let you all know.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on my opinion, please feel free to share. - Heidi

Hippo Birthday!

I acquired this stamp at Goodwill.  I have no idea why I liked it or who makes it, but maybe I thought it was funny.  I tried out the swing card on my Silhouette Cameo and added her on.

She'll make a funny birthday card. - Heidi

It's the little things

I bought this Sizzix thinlits flip-its die from Flowers to Flourishes.  I was trying to find something challenging to do with a one inch circle.  I pulled out my Walk in the Wild set from Stampin' Up and decided to give it a try.

I had a hard time finding a sentiment that was appropriate so I pulled out the retired set, You're a Gem.  I don't know, what do you think? - Heidi

A tissue box card

I posted previously that inspiration is all around us.  I was inspired by a tissue box!

I was going to emboss the design, but instead ended up tracing the design with a Sakura jelly pen.  It could be better, but it's not too bad. - Heidi

Silhouette Bride

I had more fun on my Cameo cutting out this bride card.  This card is the Daniela Angelova bride card and I love it's simple elegance.  I love it so much I made it twice and possibly a few more times!

I made the above card using Perfect Plum and Pale Plum with some colored pearl embellishments.  I made the train out of vellum.

The below card uses Almost Amethyst cardstock.  The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

A little sponging goes a long way.  This card is supposed to be open with no veil, but I just couldn't do it.  Hope you enjoy! - Heidi

Echo Park Santa

I have a Silhouette Cameo.  I have yet to use all (or most) of it's features.  Yesterday I tried out the print and cut feature.  Very cool!  I can feed Whisper White cardstock through my Dell printer and then cut the image on my Cameo.  I love This & That Christmas paper and embellishments from Echo Park and they have their designs on Silhouette.com.  I'm in heaven!

The base is a flip card which I also cut with my Cameo on Real Red.  I may never stamp again! Just Kidding! - Heidi

Color Inspiration everywhere!

As I was cleaning my stamping area I walked by my EK Success big border punches and came across a punch that I haven't used yet.  Okay, there are a lot of punches I haven't used yet.  This one caught my eye and the sparks in my brain started to fly.

What can I do with the circles large edger punch though?  Then I found this paint idea card from Valspar that I picked up at Lowe's.  It contains a fabulous color combo - see it below.

How much fun are those colors?  I used Lovely Lilac, Gable Green, Real Red and Tempting Turquoise from Stampin' Up for my pallette.  I am sorry, but just because a color is retired doesn't mean that I won't use it.  I like to be able to use the color I want when I want it!

Then I made the card, but I had a heck of a time with the bow.  I hate tying bows - did I ever mention that?  I think I spent almost an hour working on getting this bow just right.  UGH!

Without further ado, here is the card.  The sentiment is Sweet Essentials from Stampin' Up.  I wasn't sure what sentiment to use, so I made it a non-traditional Christmas card.

My take home message is: color inspiration is all around you - you just have to be aware of it.  Oh yes, and you have to carry a camera or phone to take a picture of it so you can reproduce it later!

Have a great night - Heidi

 

World Card Making Day!

First of all I would like to say thank you to Paper Crafts magazine for picking my card in the Hello/Thinking of You category for their World Card Making Contest.  It was announced here along with the other winners.  My card will be in the March 2014 issue of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine!  I can not show you the card now, but I will in February when I am able to.

In the meantime after seeing the other winners blogs I have decided to step up my photography.  I made a white box and hopefully the pictures will be better quality in the future.  To celebrate my win I have a card to share with you.

This card was from a kit I got at Hannah Home Accents in Antioch, Illinois.  Now that Achiever's in Gurnee is closed I had to find an alternative spot to feed my cardmaking hunger.

This card uses papers and chipboard from FarmHouse Paper Company.  I love the retro vibe.  The card turned out nothing like the card in the kit because I changed it up and made it my own.  I almost bought more of this paper when my friend Karen and I went there because their products are that cool.

Never fear though I bought other retro papers that you will see in the future!

Have a great night - Heidi

Bleachy Bones

As promised I present another bleach card.  I saw this stamp set at Michael's and had to have it, of course.  With my 50% off coupon it was only $2.00!  It is made by Recollections and called Haunted.  I tried embossing in white on black cardstock, but it looked globby.  Then I embossed it black on black cardstock, but when I painted with bleach it didn't turn the paper white.  I am sure it was the paper.  I decided to try stamping and embossing in black on Rich Razzleberry.  Oh yes, that worked nicely!

Any little bleach overspills were nicely cleaned up with a Rich Razzleberry marker.  You can't even tell where I "cleaned up" my lines - promise.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I don't think it turned out too bad.  Of course it is much better IRL. - Heidi

Swing cards, baby!

Don't get me wrong, I love Stampin' Up.  I was about to buy the new Circle Card Thinlits Die when I discovered that I could make a swing card on my Silhouette Cameo.  Instead of spending 30 some dollars I simply spent 99 cents! YIPEE!  Check out what I made.

I used the retired Sail Away stamp on the outside and the sentiment "go confidently in the direction of your dreams" stamp on the inside.  This would make a nifty guy graduation card.

For this card I used the Giant Pumpkin stamp by Hero Arts that I picked up at Goodwill.  I stamped the pumpkin in Versamark on Only Orange cardstock.  Then I heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  Now here's the cool part - I painted with bleach and water to make the yellow parts of the pumpkin.  It looks awesome and really pops.  I have been using a lot of bleach lately as you'll see in my next post.  For the inside I bought a scallop circle for the Cameo and cut it out and glued it in.  I LOVE how easy and quick and CHEAP it is to get designs for the Cameo.  No cartridges to buy!  Have an awesome night  - Heidi

Goodwill madness!

I started a new job and am I worn out!  I don't get downstairs to make cards as much as I'd like to.  Here are a few things that I have created.  It would appear that I have a new addiction - washi tape!

I scored these airplane stamps while at Goodwill.  The airplane on the right is a single stamp and the three on the left are a stamp.  I thought they were interesting.  I have other ideas for these stamps so stay tuned!  I used Scotch Expressions tape - love it!

I found this buffalo stamp at Goodwill and made my father a birthday card.  He was out East for his birthday so it didn't seem right to give it to him late.  I'll hold onto it for next year.

My husband spotted this PSX cat stamp when we were at Goodwill.  It is an awesome graphic and I decided to make simple cards with it.  What do you think?

 

While at Goodwill I came across these Endangered species stamps.  I have no idea who makes them, but at 49 cents how could I resist!

This screaming lady stamp is another Goodwill find. Again I have no clue who made her, but I love her expression.  I printed the sentiment and die cut it for the card.  I think it works out great!

Nothing here from Goodwill.  Loving the Scotch Expressions tape.

I bought this button at Goodwill.  Thought it was cute and that I'd make a simple card.  Not my favorite, but it'll do.  Have a great day - Heidi

Playing Catch-up

I have graduated, had my annual rummage sale and I start my new job tomorrow.  I have been creating - just not sharing.

The above card uses Wetlands stamp set.  I think this may be my favorite set right now.  I found this Aqua Mist DSP from Papertrey that matches Coastal Cabana perfectly.  I love it when that happens!

Went to Archiver's and they were having a sale on Washi tapes.  They were also clearing out this stamp.  Love them together!

These two cards use a Hero Arts stamp I picked up at Archiver's also.  Wingo Zingo with some washi tape, a button and some found ribbon that matches Certainly Celery.  The words are Sweet Essentials.

I scored the Wolf set from shopgoodwill.com.  I got a bunch of alphabets and numbers I didn't want, but hey it was under $30.00!  Love this stamp and I am going to add it to my permanent collection.

Hope you enjoyed!  Keep stamping and creating - Heidi.

Monsters U and Juicy Juice

Good morning!  I have been working on these cards for a while now.  I wanted to finish the entire set before I posted them.  When I saw the Juicy Juice boxes I knew I had to make a set of cards just like I did when they had Disney Cars on the boxes.

See the Disney Cars cards here.

I apologize for the fuzzy pictures, but you get the idea.

Mike Wazowski:

Cardstock: Green Galore & Pacific Point

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & A Round Array

The images were an odd size so I went with a 5 1/4" square card, all with the same layouts.

Squishy Squibbles:

Cardstock: Poppy Parade & Green Galore

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & Off the Grid

Sulley:

Cardstock: Taken with Teal & Pear Pizzazz

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & Hexagon background (from A muse)
Sorry for the flash!

Art:

Cardstock: Lavender Lace & Rich Razzelberry

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & Positively Chevron background

Terri & Terry:

Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip.

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & Print Pattern background

Ms. Squibbles:
Cardstock: Strawberry Slush, Marina Mist & Green Galore
Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes & Secret Garden
Have an awesome weekend! - Heidi

Papertrey Fun!

I am in love with Papertrey Ink's chevron cover plate die.  I made some rainbow cards, that I have yet to post, and had leftover backgrounds.  They were lying on my work table when I got the idea to layer the backgrounds.  I think it looks way cool to layer the negative chevron pieces.

The stamps are from Bountiful Banners and Blooming Button Bits both from Papertrey Ink.  The cardstock I used was YoYo Yellow and Only Orange.  It is busy, but the background is stunning to behold.  Just a little tucking and gluing to make this card.  Have a Happy 4th. - Heidi

By the Seashore

This is a semi-CASE of a card I saw on Pintrest.  Have I mentioned that I am addicted to Pintrest?!  It uses Coastal Cabana and Baked Brown Sugar plus By the Seashore and Wetlands from Stampin' Up.  I also used some clay similar to that of Stampin" Up and Martha Stewart and a Mod Melt mold to make the nest with eggs.  I then "painted" the nest and eggs with water and re-inkers so it would match perfectly.  Thanks for looking - Heidi.

Perfume and Girly

I am not very girly.  I am not a bling person either.  I don't like working with glitter because it gets everywhere!  Here is my attempt at some girly cards using my Cameo Silhouette for the perfume bottles.  The sentiments are from Papertrey Ink.  Have a wonderful evening - Heidi

I like the above card the best!  I think the bottle on the lower right looks like a salad dressing bottle.  Oh well.

 

Girly, You Rock!

The above cards use a guitar design found on my Cameo Silhouette.  The stamp is Signature Greetings from Papertrey Ink.  Something is still missing, but I'll have to figure it out for the next round of cards!  Have a great day - Heidi.

Three horses - five ways

I broke down and bought a Cameo Silhouette.  The first thing I cut was ruined probably because the mat was so sticky, but these horses here are awesome!  I used three different colors plus two of the negatives left-over.

This first set of horses use, Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze and River Rock cardstock on Black.  Maybe I needed some shading on the horses to make them pop.

On the second card I embossed the first and third horse to give it a different look.

On the third card I embossed all of the horses for another look.

I used the River Rock negative part and made the above card.

Then I used the Cajun Craze negative part and made this last card.  I think I am all horsed out now.

- Heidi

Catch-up

I made this card a while ago using the 8 X 8 scrapbook kit in Stampin' Up's Spring catalog and the set petitie pairs. - Heidi

Flowers, fathers and dresses

I am playing catch-up on cards I have made, but not posted.

The above card was inspired by my friend Beth.  She sent me a picture of a card box she made and the cover had something similar on it.  I stamped the Pleasant Poppies over the French Script background and water colored the flowers in.  The sentiment is from Fabulous Florets.

I still love these dies from Papertrey Ink!  The Man & Wife are so cool!  Instead of a wedding card like this one here I decided to have the man go solo for a Father's Day card.  What do you think?

I ordered the dress up framelits dies from Stampin' Up, but haven't really had the chance to play with them yet!  So sad, I know!  I also scored the big button border die from my local Goodwill store and I attached several buttons over it.  I still need to make an envelope for it, but I don't think it turned out too bad.  It needs a sentiment or something else, I think. - Heidi