Vintage Type

Look what I scored the other day...

There is a wonderful little upscale re-sale shop in town called The Green Goat that deals mostly in re-purposed furniture and cool vintage items.  While the quality of the items she sells is upscale, her prices are more than reasonable. This little beauty cost me under $50.  I have seen similar ones priced on line anywhere from $75 to $700. Yikes!

I am so excited as I have been wanting a vintage typewriter for ages.  It will go great with the antique printer's trays I purchased a few months ago.  It weighs about 20 pounds and needs a little cleaning, but all the pieces are there and it appears to work just fine. I have a wonderful little vignette pictured in my mind with the typewriter and printer's trays...we'll see how long it takes me to get it completed.

In the meantime, take a look at this...

I have a stamp that matches. Imagine that! :)

I made a slit just above the paper bail (feeder) and slipped my "typed" piece of paper through it.  I thought the colorful paper was a nice contrast to the black and white image.

The patterned paper is a sneak peak from the upcoming Sale-a-bration catalog called Sycamore Street.  It will be available January 22nd! 



Supplies 
Stamps: You're My Type (retired)
Paper: Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (SAB sneak peak)
Ink:Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Misc.: Exacto knife, Sponge

Adrift at Sea

I really like this set for masculine projects, however I always seem to struggle with how to make all the pieces work together on a card.  Basically feeling a little lost and adrift.:) 

The base of the card is a new In-Color called Midnight Muse which will be available for purchase on June 1st!  I stamped the globe and compass randomly on the Cherry Cobbler piece using it's respective ink.  The ledger was stamped with Early Espresso and then "aged" by rubbing So Saffron over the piece and sponging the edges with Early Espresso.

I stamped the anchor on Very Vanilla using Midnight Muse.  After cutting it out, I sponged it with Early Espresso.  To give the card a little more texture and depth, I wrapped the Hemp twine around the anchor and adhered it to the card using mini glue dots.  The Cherry Cobbler and Bashful Blue pieces were also distressed and sponged with their respective inks.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Pennant Parade
Paper:Midnight Muse (new In-Color), Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Midnight Muse, So Saffron
Misc.: Natural Hemp Twine (retiring), Distress Tool from Cutter Kit (retiring), Sponges, Mini Glue Dots

 Have a great day!

VC Rocks-Have a Heart-Blog Hop

It's that time of year again...where those of us that can not attend the SU annual convention create our own convention fun ~ virtually!

If you don't know what VC Rocks is, please check out the VC Rocks Blog for more info and to see the entire list of blog hop participants in case of broken links. There is some wonderful additional art work on the site as well.

If you are following along the hop from the beginning, you should have come from Robin's site-Robin's Craft Room.  What a great doodling project!

I have done two cards for our Have a Heart Hop featuring sneak peaks of the new 2012-2014 In-Colors that will be available June 1st!! This color combo is not one I would normally choose to do, but it looked very intriguing on the Color Coach chart for the new In-Colors so I gave it a try.

Since the color combo was very bold {at least for me :)}, I kept the card itself pretty simple.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard {4.25" x 5.5"} card base from Basic Gray cardstock and stamp your sentiment in the bottom right corner.  The one I used is from Loving Thoughts and is stamped in Basic Black.
2. Cut a piece of Summer Starfruit (new IC) to 3" x 3.25" and sponge the edges with its respective ink.
3. Cut a piece of Primrose Petals (new IC) to 2.75" x 3".  Punch a heart out of the center of the piece using the Full Heart Punch.  Sponge the edges with Primrose Petals ink, including around the cut out heart edges.
4. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
5. Run the heart through the Big Shot using the embossing folder-Vintage Wallpaper.  Sponge the edges, and the raised embossing, with Pretty In Pink ink.
6. Place pink heart in center of Summer Starfruit mat.  Use dimensionals to pop up the Primrose Petal piece over the heart.*
7. Add three small pearls to bottom right corner of the heart piece and adhere to card base in upper left corner.

*Helpful Hint:

To make sure that your punched heart is centered under the cutout heart, center the Primrose piece on the Starfruit mat-NOT using any adhesive.  

Put adhesive on the back of the punched heart and place inside the negative space of the Primrose piece. 

Once the heart is adhered, remove the Primrose piece, add dimensionals and reposition it on the Starfruit mat.

Supplies
Stamps: Loving Thoughts
Paper: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit (new In-colors), Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray
Ink: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Sponges


For the second card, I went from bold and simple to muted and vintage.  I also used the Color Coach to choose the combo for this card as well.  Raspberry Ripple (new IC), Pretty In Pink and Old Olive;  I added Soft Suede as the base.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard card base {4.25" x 5.5"} using Soft Suede cardstock.  Sponge the edges of the card with Soft Suede Ink.  Also drag the sponge across the top of the card a few times to add a little depth.
2. Tear a piece of First Edition Specialty DSP from the corner, leaving the two outside edges un-torn.  I sponged ink on this piece in Soft Suede, Old Olive and Pretty In Pink.  Adhere to card base.
3. Cut a piece of Raspberry Ripple approximately 3" x 3.25" and punch a heart from the center of this using the Full Heart Punch.
4. Center the second to smallest framelit from the Labels Collection over the negative heart space and run through the Big Shot.
5. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pretty In Pink.  Place this inside the negative space of the Raspberry Ripple piece.  Emboss the pieces using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the Big Shot.  Sponge both pieces with Raspberry Ripple and Soft Suede ink.
6. Using the next size larger framelit, cut a piece of Old Olive cardstock.  Sponge with Old Olive and Soft Suede ink.  Layer under the Raspberry Ripple and Pretty In Pink die cut.
7. "Age" a 7" piece of Victorian Lace Ribbon by sponging it with Old Olive, Pretty In Pink and Soft Suede ink.  Tie in a bow, trim and fray the ends.
8. Stamp a sentiment from Tiny Tags on Raspberry Ripple, punch out using the Jewelry Tag Punch.  Sponge with Raspberry Ripple ink.  Use the paper piercer to make a hole in the top of the tag.  Thread with Linen thread and pin to the lace bow using a Vintage Trinket safety pin.
9. Stamp sentiment on card base with Soft Suede ink.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tiny Tags, Wings of Friendship (retired)
Paper: Raspberry Ripple (new In-Color), Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede, First Edition Specialty DSP
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Victoria Lace ribbon, Sponges,

I hope you enjoyed my projects and find some inspiration in them.  The next stop on the hop is Dawn's site-Stampin' At Dawn.  She has a really cute project waiting for you.



   

Fresh Vintage

Here is a peak at another of the great FREE stamp sets you can earn during Sale-A-Bration (SAB). The Fresh Vintage set includes this beautiful floral stamp that can be used as a focal point or to create great backgrounds.

I used my In-Color markers to color the stamp. I took the color combo from the patterns in the DSP, Everyday Enchantment, which you can also earn for FREE during SAB. If you struggle with color combinations, then the SU Color Lab is a great place to find inspiration. You can even add your own favorite color combos!


This was a pretty easy card to put together. The item that took the longest was coloring the stamp and that only took a couple of minutes. Once stamped, I simply added the layers, placed the focal point, stamped the sentiment, and added the pearls. With this versatile layout you could create any kind of card, all you need to do is change the sentiment and the focal point.

SAB starts January 24th, so don't miss out on your chance to earn FREE products!!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Bring on the Cake
Paper: Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade Stampin' Write Markers
Misc.: Basic Pearls

Enjoy the day!!

Birthday Coral Sneak Peak

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Although work was utter chaos this year, at home it was a very pleasant and relaxing Holiday for us.

Now it's time to start thinking about the new year. I've made several goals for myself for the coming year and I am determined to achieve them. One of them is to expand on a goal from 2011, and that is to continue to push myself to create things out of my comfort zone.

While the card I have to show you today is done in my favorite vintage/distressed style, the colors are definitely out of the box for me. As I have mentioned before, the orange color family is one that I typically avoid and lime green is not really at the top of my list either. However, in the upcoming Sale-A-Bration (SAB) catalog there is some very pretty vintage style DSP which features Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade In-colors called Everyday Enchantment ~ I actually like it. :)

The paper is a wonderful mix of florals and patterns with a muted color scheme. In the close-up you can see several new items that will be available to earn FREE during SAB.


I used one of my favorite embellishments, the Mini Vintage Tag, to add some dimension and interest to the card. I stamped the tag with Lucky Limeade using one of the corners of the stamp used for the focal piece which is from the Elementary Elegance set. The birthday sentiment is also from the same set. The cute little brad and organdy ribbon are from the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad pack.

You can start earning Free SAB catalog items beginning January 24th. Come back and visit my blog for future sneak peaks and information.

Stamps: Elementary Elegance (SAB)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party
Paper: Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB)
Miscellaneous: Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad Pack (SAB), Mini Vintage Tags, Chantilly Crochet Trim, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon (retired), Curly Label, Scallop Trim Border and Scallop Edge Border Punches, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Distress Tool (Cutter Kit), Dimensionals, Sponges


Happy New Year!!!

Paisley Petals Companion Card

This is the card that I made to go along with the notepad set from yesterday's post. Again, I went for simple and quick with the style.



The designs in the Paisley Petals paper lend themselves quite well to being the focal point of a project. There are so many great colors that coordinate with this paper - Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, River Rock, Soft Suede and Tangerine Tango. Some other choices include Bravo Burgundy, Peach Parfait (In-Color) and Mellow Moss (Retired). Think of all the different projects that can be made with that many color choices!

If you missed getting any of this paper during the sneak peak promotion in April, don't worry-it will be available again July 1st, in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog!

Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: Mellow Moss (retired), Not Quite Navy, Paisley Petals DSP
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Jewels Basic Pearls, MDS (for sentiment inside card)

Enjoy!

Paisley Petals Test Case

Now that they are no longer available to purchase, I have finally got around to making something with the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper and the Four Frames Stamp set. The good thing about that is, they will both be available AGAIN in the new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog coming in July!! Only a couple of months away!

While big floral prints are not typically my style, my Mom likes them, so I made a gift for her using the paper and stamp set for Mother's Day. She was definitely my guinea pig for this one, as it was also the first clear case notepad set I have made. Fortunately, she loved it. (But then Moms are a bit prejudiced when it comes to their kids talents.) :)

I have seen a lot of the cover inserts made for these cases using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio. Using MDS gives you the opportunity to add beautiful digital embellishments and rearrange your layout as many times as you like, without wasting any supplies. Since the digital layouts are not bulky like normal layouts, they slip right into the case cover. I will definitely be making more of this fun and easy project, and next time will be printing some MDS cover inserts as well.


While I wanted to showcase the floral pattern of the paper, I still think the front cover is a little plain. If I hadn't waited until the last minute to make it, I probably would have embellished it a bit differently.



I really like how the inside turned out and was actually surprised at the thickness of the two pads together not causing a problem with closing the case. These are so handy for your purse or car whenever you need to write a reminder note to yourself or make a quick to do list.

Both of the large green mat pieces and the little piece under the clip are Mellow Moss, however, the lighting makes them look like two different shades of green. Of course I didn't look closely at the pictures until after giving it to her. Oh well...can't retake them now.

Stamps: Four Frames (available in July), Notes & Details, Office Accoutrement (retired)
Paper: Paisley Petals DSP (available in July), Not Quite Navy, Mellow Moss (retired)
Accessories: Clip Assortment, Basic Pearls, Decorative Label Punch, Double Stitched Baja Breeze Grosgrain, Mini notepad, Post-It note pad, Mini pen

Enjoy!

Spring is Blossoming Stampin' Up! Promotion

Stampin' Up! is giving us a sneak peak and a chance to pre-order some new items from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog, available in July! Don't miss out on this special offer.

The Paisley Petals Designer Series paper is absolutely beautiful and perfect for your Spring and Summer projects; and the Four Frames stamp set is designed specifically to work with the Decorative Label Punch. The colors featured in the DSP are:

• Baja Breeze
• Cherry Cobbler
• Chocolate Chip
• Marina Mist
• Not quite Navy
• Old Olive
• River Rock
• Soft Suede
• Tangerine Tango

To purchase these items simply place a minimum $20 order, or host a $350* workshop and earn them for FREE! This offer is only valid through April 30th. The items will not be available to purchase again until July 1, 2011.

To place your order, or to learn more about this promotion and to see a fabulous sample using these products, check out my SU website Kym's Creations.


*Net sales before tax and shipping; not applicable for online orders.

Something Old, Something New........

Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

Nope, this isn't a wedding card, but the saying really fits.
The something old is the Bird w/Leaves Bigz Die that will be retiring as of July 1st. This die has wonderful little components that can be used together or individually. Although I haven't used it extensively, I'm kind of sad to see it go.

Something new would be the Marina Mist cardstock I used for the bird, the Early Espresso cardstock for the mats and the Presto Patterns paper that is available in the Summer Mini. There is also a little Sneak Peak...the sentiment is from the new Level 1 Hostess set, Because I Care.

The Presto Patterns paper is so cool! There are 6 different patterns that are begging to be colored. (You can also leave them white for a nice tone on tone effect.) Each of the patterns is embossed onto the paper, so when you apply color the patterns resist the color and stand out. I don't have any of the new ink colors yet, so I had to play around a bit. I was able to get pretty close to Marina Mist by first misting the paper lightly with water and then brayering with Bashful Blue and then Baja Breeze, which is a returning In-Color. By misting the paper, the colors blended nicely.

Something Borrowed? Well, that would be the pearls, I had to borrow them from an old sample, as I didn't have enough for this card. My order will hopefully be here next week. :) The pearls are included in the SU Pretties Kit. This kit is being reconfigured for the new catalog and some of the items in the kit will no longer be available. So if you want it the way it is, order now!

And of course the obvious, Something Blue, would be the bird and the color scheme for the Presto Patterns paper. I love the new Marina Mist color. I have a feeling that I will be using it almost as much as Razzleberry. :) I ran the bluebird through my Big Shot with the Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder to give him a little more pizazz and then sponged some Baja Breeze over him.

Here is an older card I made using the Bird w/Leaves Die.

The card base is a transparency. The bird and individual components are adhered to the front of the card, while the cardstock is adhered on the inside front of the card to hide all the adhesive.


Enjoy!