I was so excited to get the mail the other day, because I received this great card made by my friend Jami!

I love how she made this a non-traditional shape – the circle rocks! And I love her black fiber tying the tag onto the card – continues the look of the spider web. Not sure if that was her intention, but it's a cool effect either way.

The back of the card is where she placed her greeting, which says – Hope your Halloween is bewitching and spooktacular! How fun is that?!

Thanks, Jami. Love your card and I hope your Halloween is extra spooktacular as well!

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If you missed out on this month's Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack featuring the Dasher stamp, you still have time to register for November's Stamp-a-Stack.

Elegant and beautiful holiday cards!  We'll use the beautiful Serene Snowflakes and Winter Post stamp sets to create these enchanting, shimmery, almost nostalgic holiday cards. The cards are designed to be beautiful, easy and affordable to make, whether you make a few or a lot!  Share joy and warmth by sending friends and family heartfelt greetings with handmade cards this holiday season.

Just in time for the Christmas/holiday season!  Get your Christmas cards complete before Thanksgiving!!

PRICE: Your choice!  (Choose how many cards you want to make.)
Date: Friday, November 6 (6:30p-9:00p) -OR- Saturday, November 7 (10:00a-12:30p)
RSVP by 23-October

These are just 2 of the cards you will be making (total of 4 different designs – you decide how many sets you want to make).

Click here to register for this class before it's full.

I made this card for my dear friend Leslie's birthday. I have to admit that I love the way it turned out. Sort of an impressionistic, water-colored look. What do you think?

Here's how I made it:

1) Cut Rich Razzleberry card stock at 5.5" x 4.25".

2) Cut Whisper White card stock at 8" x 5.25" and score at 4" (so folded card is 5.25" x 4").

3) Dry emboss card front using the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Folder and the Big Shot (love the deeply etched images these folders create!).

4) Water color the flowers using an Aqua Painter and Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry ink pads. Add a bit of foliage color with Garden Green ink.

5) Stamp greeting from Sincere Salutations with Garden Green ink in upper right corner of card front.

6) Attach embossed card front to Rich Razzleberry card base. Stamp birthday greeting on inside using Rich Razzleberry ink.

Leslie - I hope your birthday was as special as you are!

Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Full of Life

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Garden Green

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Manhattan Flower Impressions die, Big Shot

My nephew's birthday was last week and I was trying to come up with a card that wasn't too cutesy, but not too serious either. I decided on the ever fun-loving Loads of Love (and Loads of Love Accessories) to create this card:

The truck was just calling out to me to be paper-pieced, so I listened. I used some retired DSP (I think the paper was called something like Prestwick?), that has lots of blues and grays. So how do you paper-piece? It's actually very simple. You just stamp your image on colored paper (could be DSP as I used here, or colored card stock), and then cut out the pieces of the image that you want in that color of paper. In the case of my truck. I lined up the stamp so that it looked like the "paint job" on the truck had stripes. Pretty cool, huh?! I then stamped the exact same truck image on a piece of Whisper White card stock (I also stamped the presents and driver), and then glued my new truck body over the top – leaving the presents, driver and tires showing. I could have stamped and cut out the tires and hubs in different papers, but I wanted to color those in. I used a Basic Black marker to color the tires, and pure color pencils to color the hubs and the presents in the back of the truck (along with the lady driving).

To add a little more color, I stamped the greeting with Basic Black on Whisper White card stock, but then I used the pure color pencils again to highlight each of the words with a different color. Helps make the words pop out. I double matted the greeting and truck image with Night of Navy and Going Gray card stock, then attached them to a piece of DSP that was cut slightly smaller than the Whisper White card base.

I hope Michael had a fabulous birthday and knows how much we all love him.

Please give paper piecing a try and then email me a picture of your work – I'd love to feature you on my blog as you are all so talented!

Stamps: Loads of Love,
Loads of Love Accessories, Full of Life (inside saying)
Ink: Basic Black, Basic
Black marker
Paper: Whisper White,
Night of Navy, Going Gray, Prestwick DSP (retired)
Accessories: Pure Color
Pencils

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and while we celebrated over the weekend, I wanted to send him a little card to tell him how much he means to me. However my Dad can be a bit critical, so I wanted the card to be more masculine and not so "cutesy". Here's what I designed – what do you think?

I used some old favorites like Aged to Perfection and the background stamp – Ephemera. I was going for a collaged, aged look. Do you think I succeeded? I like how it turned out, and hopefully Dad will to. Here's how I made it:

1. Create card base from Tangerine Tango card stock (8.5 x 5.5" – folded in half).

2. Stamp the Ephemera background stamp with Tangerine Tango ink on the front of the card, then tear one long edge and tear a chunk out of the right side of the card.

3. Sponge the card edges with Chocolate Chip ink.

4. Cut a piece of Always Artichoke card stock (1" x 5.5") and attach behind the long torn edge.

5. Using Aged to Perfection, randomly stamp the smaller images on the card front. I stamped with bleach, as well as with Chocolate Chip ink (be sure to clean your stamp very well after using bleach!).

6. Stamp the Superior stamp on Creamy Caramel card stock with Always Artichoke ink. Tear the edges near the image and sponge with artichoke ink.

7. Mat this image with a piece of Close to Cocoa card stock and tear those edges. Attach to front of card in upper left corner.

8. Stamp "perfection" image with Chocolate Chip ink on Close to Cocoa card stock. Punch out with the large oval punch.

9. Attach this image inside a hodgepodge hardware oval using Crystal Effects as the "glue".

10. Attach this embellishment to the lower right side of the card front using the coordinating brads from the hodgepodge kit.

11. Attach another hardware embellishment to the lower left corner of the "superior" image using a brad.

12. Stamp inside of card (I love using Full of Life for my inside sayings) and enjoy giving this card to your friends and family!

And here is the coordinating envelope:

This is a card that was featured in my August class – Razzle Dazzle Shabby Chic Gift Set – and I also demonstrated it during my September parties. I love how you can use up all sorts of scraps on this project. Of course I'm assuming you are like me and cannot throw out even the smallest pieces of your designer series paper, because you just don't know when you might use it. Anyone else out there horde their designer papers? Come on, am I the only one?

While I said you could use your scraps, your scraps do need to be at least 4" in length – the width can vary, and actually looks better with varied widths across the card front. I tore all of the right edges of my scraps and then sponged them with Dusty Durango ink so that they all had a uniform feel to them. As you are layering, simply start on the side on which you want your torn edges to show. In my case, I started layering on the right side of my card and worked left until my card front was full. Does that make sense?

For the tag, I used a piece of Dusty Durango card stock that I rounded 2 corners and tore the opposite edge. I also used the horizontal slot punch to make a place for the Rich Razzleberry ribbon to slide through. Here's a little tip with the ribbon – place a small piece of SNAIL adhesive just underneath the "fold-over" loop, so that your ribbon doesn't try to come undone. For the words on the tag, I used the Autumn Harvest rub-ons and chose the words – a note of thanks. I rubbed those onto my DSP, tore the edges and sponged them with Dusty Durango ink. I then layered that on another scrap of the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, tore those edges and sponged them as well, and then layered everything onto my tag. Then I added the bough rub on over all of the layers (rub-ons are great for that!), so the image went from the DSP to the card stock tag. I attached the tag to the front of my card, and voila – done! Isn't this a great use for scraps? I love the rich look of this card.

Change out the words and image and this card would make a beautiful Thanksgiving card (well, I guess saying a note of thanks would also work as is).

Stamps: Full of Life (inside sentiment)

Ink: Dusty Durango

Paper: Dusty Durango, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Autumn Harvest rub-ons, Rich Razzleberry polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, horizontal slot punch, corner rounder, sponge

Interested in step-by-step directions for this card and 3 other coordinating projects, which would make great gifts? Click here to order the tutorial for only $6.95.

The Medallion background stamp is one of the top selling stamps in this year's catalog, and now that I have it, I understand why. There are so many possibilities floating around in my head that I can't wait to try! Embossing, glitter, kissing – the list goes on.

This is a quick card you can create in less than 5 minutes! While it's quick to make, this card is quite elegant and could be used for a number of different occasions – thinking of you, birthday, just a note, etc. Make 4 – 8 of these cards, wrap them with a ribbon or put them in cello bag with a topper and this would make a great hostess gift, birthday gift or even a much appreciated Christmas gift.

Ready to see how easy this card is to make?

1. Create card from Very Vanilla card stock – 4"x8" and fold in half so your card is 4x4".
2. Stamp Medallion onto card front with Dusty Durango ink.
3. Use the Color Spritzer tool (this is so much fun!) with the Soft Suede marker and spritz onto the card front.
4. Attach a piece of Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (1" x 4") to the left side of the card. (Option: tear the right side of the paper to give a more distressed look.)
5. Attach a ¼" x 4" piece of Soft Suede card stock on top of the Razzleberry Lemonade card stock.

Tip: Save the piece of non-stick paper from your label sheet (this is the label sheet when you are assembling your stamps), and use this to add the SNAIL adhesive to the 1/4" piece of Soft Suede card stock. The SNAIL is wider than 1/4" and can get on your work surface, so by using the non-stick sheet, you can keep your surface clean and sticky-free.

I think I've mentioned previously that I am learning how to quilt and I just love it when I get to combine 2 of my favorite hobbies like stamping and quilting! Don't you love this scrappy-looking
"quilt" as the front of this birthday card? This card just makes me happy. And I am sucker for purple, so the Rich Razzleberry is perfect for me. Not sure I'm going to be able to give this card away. LOL! Oh wait, I can make more.

Unfortunately you cannot see the texture this card has. Once I made my "quilt", I texturized the piece by running it through my Big Shot with one of the texturz plates, and then cut it out with the Top Note die. It looks really cool in person. And don't you just love that Modern Label punch? It's so cute!

Here's how I made this card:

1. Punch 1 ¼" squares from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. You need enough to cover a piece of Whisper White card stock that is 4" x 5.25". Attach the squares as desired to the white card stock (note: you don't need perfect coverage on the edges, because you are going to die cut this piece with the Top Note die).
2. Using your favorite Texturz plate, dry emboss this piece using the Big Shot (tip: spritz your cardstock with a little water before dry embossing in the Big Shot – it helps create a deeper impression)
3. Die cut this piece using the Top Note die and the Big Shot.
4. "Stitch" the blocks together with a black pen (this is faux stitching).
5. Tie a piece of Rich Razzleberry polkadot ribbon around the Top Note piece.
6. Attach a 4" x 5.25" piece of Melon Mambo card stock to the front of your Rich Razzleberry card (5.5" x 8.5" folded in half).
7. Attach Top Note piece to the front of the card.
8. Stamp happy birthday from Teeny Tiny Wishes with Rich Razzleberry ink on a scrap piece of Crushed Curry card stock and punch out with the Modern Label punch. Sponge edges with Rich Razzleberry. Attach to front of card in desired location.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black marker

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Rich Razzleberry Polkadot ribbon, sponge dauber, Big Shot, Top Note die, Stampin' Up! backgrounds 1 texturz plates

I love our new Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper (in the Holiday Mini) and I just had to create a class around this luscious paper. Here is one of the cards that we will be making during the October Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. You've got to feel this paper – it is flocked. The white embellishments on the red paper is soft and fuzzy – awesome! And to add more texture, the reindeer image and the greeting image is embossed with our Iridescent Ice embossing powder, so the card is very sparkly and shimmery.

I hope you can join me and get a jump on your holiday cards (wouldn't it be nice to have them done before Thanksgiving?!). If you cannot join us physically for this class, you can still order the directions here.

This class fills quickly, so register early!

This was a fun card to make and perfect for that golfing fan (or is it fanatic?) in your life. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show it, but the golf ball actually has little dimples on it, just like a real golf ball – how fun!

This card uses our new In Color – Soft Suede – which is a great color for guys. Not quite green, not quite brown, but definitely not a "girly" color. The golf tee is made from the letter U in the Big Shot Serif Essentials alphabet die. Clever, huh? Wish I could take credit for it, but I learned it from Jennifer Randall (thanks!). The golf ball and the "sky" background both use Glossy white card stock. I love using glossy card stock but sometimes I just totally forget about it (crazy – I know). Glossy card stock gives such a shiny quality to any image you stamp on it – or in this case sponge on it.

Directions:

1) Create card base – 8.5"x5.5" textured Soft Suede card stock folded in half. Sponge edges with Soft Suede ink using.
2) Sponge a piece of glossy white card stock (2.5"x3") using Ballet Blue card stock. Leave some white space towards the bottom of the panel.
3) Mat this glossy card stock with a piece of Dusty Durango card stock (2.75"x3.25"). Attach this to the front of the card.
4) Run a piece of glossy white card stock through the Big Shot with the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 texturz plate (using the dotted background to give the golf ball it's dimples). Punch out golf ball using 1 1/4" circle punch.
5) Create golf tee by die-cutting a piece of Real Red card stock using the Serif Essentials alphabet die (the die with the letter U – you only need a piece big enough to cover the U). Trim off one half of the letter U, leaving the side that looks like a golf tee.
6) Attach the golf tee to the glossy panel, and then attach the golf ball on top of the tee.
7) Fringe a piece of Old Olive card stock (1"x3.25") – be sure you only cut about half way down the strip, or you may accidentally cut off part of your grass. Attach over the golf tee, hiding the bottom of the tee.
Stamp Happy Birthday with Soft Suede ink on Whisper White card stock and punch out using the small tag punch.
9) Using the large tag punch, punch a tag from Dusty Durango card stock. Layer the 2 tags and attach a metallic eyelet using the Crop-a-Dile. Attach to front of card as desired.
10) Tie a piece of Soft Suede polkadot ribbon around the left side of the card.

Give to your favorite golf fan and watch how happy you make them!