For my August workshops, I demonstrated the Scratch-n-Sniff technique which is a blast to do and has so many variations.

Here's the card I demonstrated:

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Eat Cake
Ink: Regal Rose, Old Olive, Versamark, Close to Cocoa marker, Old Olive marker
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories: Gold brads, Crop-a-Dile, Stamp-a-majig, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, heat tool, strawberry flavored drink mix, embossing buddy

This technique is quite fun - and great to receive a card/project made with it!  Mix your drink mix (be sure it's unsweetened) with the clear embossing powder in approximately a 1 to 1 1/2 ratio (e.g. 1 teaspoon drink mix to 1 1/2 tsp embossing powder).  Make sure it's thoroughly mixed and then simply use it just like you would regular embossing powder.  It smells great, especially while you're heating it!

This is one of those techniques that you'll need to play with to get the results you prefer.  For example, the first project I made, I used Versamark as the embossing ink, assuming my strawberry flavored drink mix would show up more red than it did.  I started playing around and decided I really liked the look I got when I used Blush Blossom craft ink.  It added just enough color to highlight the drink mix. 

Instead of a drink mix, you could use unsweetened cocoa to make a chocolate scented project!  How fun would that be?!  I think it would cool to use the Sweet Sampler set with the cocoa and wrap up a chocolate bar or some other sweet treat.

Here's another project I made using the Blush Blossom craft ink, instead of the Versamark on the card above.  You may need to click on the pictures to bring them up larger to see the difference.  The embossing powder mixture was the exact same between the 2 cards - I simply changed the ink pad I used.

Did you also notice the Define Your Life stamp set that I used on this card?  I love, love, love this set!  There's a saying for every letter of the alphabet!  I also used this year's Ronald McDonald set - Just Like You.  Remember that for every set sold, Stampin' Up! donates $2 to the Ronald McDonald House charities.  I really like our new Scallop Circle punch and how it looks like a flower when the center is punched out and replaced with the stamped images (which are actually on the inside of the card).  If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll share more details.

There has been some email floating around recently about some different stamp set and punch combinations and I thought you might appreciate looking at your punches/stamps in a new way:

Stamps Sets for Punches

Scallop Circle Punch:

In the Spotlight, Glorious Garlands, Punch Pals, Double-Line Doodles, Wanted, Priceless, Big Flowers, Big Deal Alphabet, Looks Like Spring, Fabulous Flowers, Ginormous Flowers, Sweet Shapes, Illuminations, It’s Your Birthday, Warm Words, Pictograms, Short and Sweet, Sincere Salutations, All Holidays, Jumbo Alphabet, All About Occasions, Brocade Basics, Baroque Motifs, Sparkling Sayings, So Much, Fun & Fast Notes, On Board Blossoms and Basics

Tag Punches:

Perfect Presentation, All About Occasions, Flakey Friends, Punch Pals, Be Happy, Tagger’s Dozen, Bundled in Love, Business Boosters

Designer Label Punch:

Party Punch, Labelicious

Round Tab Punch:

Party Punch, Office Accoutrement, Totally Tabs

1” Circle Punch:

Sending Happy Thoughts kit, Perfect Presentation, Glorious Garlands, The Snowflake Spot, Perennial Favorites, Holiday Blitz, Double-Line Doodles, Polka Dots & Petals, Create a Coupon, Genuine Articles, Business Boosters, Calendar Cues, On Board Blossoms and Basics

1 ¼” and/or 1 3/8” Circle Punch:

Simple Delights Simply Sent kit, Perfect Presentation, Batty For You, Holiday Tag Team, Sparkling Sayings, Be Happy, Figures of Speech, Double-Line Doodles, Polka Dots & Petals, Big Flowers, Stamp of Authenticity, Carte Postale, Think Happy Thoughts, Big Pieces, Seeing Spots, So Happy, Dots Are Hot, Brocade Basics, Labelicious, Genuine Articles, Circle of Friendship, It’s All Good, Sporting

½” and/or ¾” Circle Punch:

In the Spotlight, Holiday Tag Team, Glorious Garlands, Cold Play, Snow Flurries, Merry Merry, Punch Pals, Forever in My Heart, Holiday Blitz, Double-Line Doodles, Sweet Thing, Wanted, Star Struck, Little Flowers, Little Pieces, Please Come, Dot Spot background, Alphabits, Art by Design

1 ¼” and/or 1 3/8” Square Punch:

Simple Delights Simply Sent kit, Perfect Presentation, Forever in My Heart, Sealed With a Kiss, Be Happy, Figures of Speech, Tagger’s Dozen, Sweet Thing, Office Accoutrement, Stamp of Authenticity, Carte Postale, Glad Tidings, It’s All Good, Art by Design, Sporting, Business Boosters, It’s a Date

¾” Square Punch:

Punch Pals, Calendar Cues

Large Oval Punch:

I did it, several of the word sets

Star Punch:

Wanted, Starstruck, Sporting, Wild West Alphabet, On Board Blossoms and Basics

5-Petal Flower Punch:

In the Spotlight, Be Happy, Priceless, Simply Said, Looks Like Spring, Heartfelt Thanks, Ginormous Flowers, Office Accoutrement, Big Pieces, Cutie Pie Double Sided Paper, On Board Blossoms and Basics

Snow Blossom Punch:

In the Spotlight, Simple Snowman, Wondrous Gift, Snowflake Spot, Merry Merry, Snow Flurries, Punch Pals, Snowfall, Be Happy

Spring Flower Bouquet Punch: Looks Like Spring

Three for You Punch:

Three Thoughts Simply Sent kit, Punch Pals, Take Three, Three for You punch box

Word Window Punch:

So Many Sayings, Block Party, Boatloads of Love, Fun & Fast Notes, Take Three, Everything Baby, Short & Sweet, Happy Everything, Wonderful Favorites, Warm Words, All Holidays, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Amazing to Zany, Fundamental Phrases

I just received my Crop-a-Dile in my first order and my husband and daughter have named it the Swedish Torture Device!  Isn't that too funny?!  I think this is one of the coolest tools since sliced bread.  And for those of you who know me, you know I'm a gadget junkie.

If you use eyelets or snaps for scrapbooking or card making or need to make a small hole in a large variety of materials - and you'd like to set your eyelets and snaps quietly - then this tool is for you! 

So, if you are curious about all the things your Crop-A-Dile will do check out these 2 videos! They are GREAT!!

http://www.creativexpress.com/nth/index.php?actn=view&id=14&title=Episode%2014

I know, kind of an odd question, right?  But here's the thing - I made a birthday card for a dear friend a couple weeks ago (yea, yea - I'm finally getting around to sharing with you all), and if I do say so myself, this card was great!  However it turns out my friend is color blind, especially in the green range, and guess what color the card was - yep - greens!  I was so embarrassed.  He swears he likes the card, but I'm not sure how much he could actually see.  Sigh.

Anyway, I based his birthday card off of a Thank You card I made last year as a demonstration for a workshop.  I loved how this card turned out, so I decided to CASE myself and make the birthday card. 

Have I whet your appetite yet?  Are you saying to yourself, "Okay, Kari, show me the darn card already!"?  Hee hee.  Okay, I'll stop being a pain.  Here's the original Thank You card I created last year:

And here's the birthday card I CASEd:

Both of these were a lot of fun to make, and actually quite easy.  The colors are basically the same in both cards - Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss and Sahara Sand.  I also added Basic Black to the birthday card.

I wheeled the background of the card (Mellow Moss on the Thank You, and Always Artichoke on the birthday) using the Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel.  Next I stamped the turtle from Nature Prints (retired) on cardstock weight vellum using Black Staz On.  I prefer the Staz On to stamp on vellum, because the ink dries much more quickly (and some inks don't dry at all on vellum).  On the birthday card, I used some retired Old Olive vellum - that's why it's so much darker.  Tip: you can color your vellum using a brayer and your Classic ink pads - have some fun coming up with custom-colored vellum for your projects!.

After I stamped the turtle, I turned over the image and placed it on the foam mat from my Crafters' Toolkit (or Mat Pack).  I used my Empressor stylus to emboss the shell of the turtle.  I prefer the Empressor Stylus when working with vellum, because it tends to tear the paper less than the regular stylus.

I matted the vellum onto Always Artichoke using brads from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit, but I added some Mellow Moss behind the turtle image to help "pop" the embossing (without the lighter color, the turtle sort of disappeared).  I also added another piece of the hardware and tied on some caramel ribbon.  I stamped the senitment with Chocolate Chip (on the thank you and black on the birthday card).

For Cary's birthday card, I also stamped the envelope to match.  Most of my customers know that I'm very big on matching envelopes.  I mean, heck, if you already have out all of the stamps, inks, etc. then why not decorate the envelope so the recipient gets a warm fuzzy when they receive this in the mail.

This card has generated a lot of interest amongst my friends, so I hope you enjoy it (them) as well!

I find it difficult at times to create a card or project for Chuck, since he's an artist and our styles are not always the same.  Please don't get me wrong, he's the most supportive person in the world and he's an amazing help with my stamping projects - and he has specific tastes.  Perhaps it's wrong of me, but I love it when I can impress him.

So I was very pleased with this card I created using our new Purely Pomegranate cardstock, Brushed Gold, Basic Black and white Mulberry paper.  I used the Flip and Fold technique from the June Technique Junkies newsletter.  If you haven't checked out Pat's site, give it a try!

The stamps I used are Bamboo II and Kanji (both retired) as well as Sincere Salutations.  I embossed the bamboo and birthday wishes saying with black detail embossing powder (I wish SU hadn't discontinued the detail powder).  I used the Craft Basic Black pad to stamp the Love image from the Kanji set on the mulberry paper. 

To tear the mulberry paper, I used the Aqua Painter and ran a line of water around the area I wanted.  This gives the paper a place to tear easily.  I love the look that Mulberry paper provides.  You can't really see it in the scan, but I also stippled the Gold Encore ink on top of the mulberry paper after I had stamped it.

Here's another view of the card with the flaps a bit more open.  Not sure if it gives you the idea or not. 

Chuck really liked it (yea!), and I hope you like it as well.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

For those of you who have your new Fall/Winter Collection Idea Book & Catalog, are you just loving it?  I am very impressed with it!  If you don't have yours yet, contact me soon to get yours (FREE when you host a workshop!).

I wanted to focus on our designer series paper today.  There are 6 patterns per assortment, and 12 sheets per package (2 each of 6 designs).  They contain exclusive designs and colors, with patterns based on Stampin’ Up! art.

And best of all, they coordinate with Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive colors!

Brocade Backgrounds: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, River Rock
Cerise: Real Red, Very Vanilla
Charbon: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla
Creepy Crawly: Basic Black, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust
Cutie Pie: Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, So Saffron
Darling Doodles: Brocade Blue, Groovy Guava, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi
Dashing: Old Olive, Real Red, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Fall Flowers: Old Olive, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky
Flowers for You: Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac, Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
LeJardin: River Rock, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Linen Prints: Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Pink Passion
Notations No. 2: More Mustard, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi
Outlaw: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla
Petals & Paisleys: Certainly Celery, Cool Caribbean, Rose Red, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink,So Saffron, Taken with Teal
Prints: Monochromatic papers available in Almost Amethyst, Always Artichoke, Blue Bayou, Brilliant Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Groovy Guava, Lovely Lilac, More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, River Rock, Rose Red, So Saffron, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise
Porcelain Prints: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Wild Wasabi
Uptown: Almost Amethyst, Basic Gray, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
Wintergreen: Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky

I hope you find this information useful in creating your new projects, and I would love to see what you are creating with these great new papers!

I wanted to share the projects we made in my stamp-a-stack class this weekend.  There are a variety of styles for different occasions (and different tastes).  We made 10 cards - 2 each of 5 different designs.

In no particular order, here are the cards:

Find Joy in Cool Caribbean:

Mixed Bouquet Recollections

Pick a Petal Thank You (check out the use of the new Rhinestone brads - though it is much better in real life)

Moose card and envelope I made for my Dad (closed and open)

And I posted this one previously, but it's such a beautiful card:

Natural Beauty 3 Flowers

Remember that you can click on any of the images to see a larger view.

I am so excited!  I just placed my preview order for some things out of the new Fall/Winter Collection preview brochure (you should be getting yours in the mail soon - they were supposed to be mailed out today)!!  And one of the stamp sets I ordered we are going to use in this month's Stamp-a-Stack class!  (There's still time to register so contact me today!)

I was playing with some of my soon to be retired sets, I created this card for a customer who wanted some thank you cards.  What do you think?

I used Mixed Bouquet, Ephemera (I'm going to miss this background stamp), and the Designer Label Punch Box (this is such a fun set!).  All of these stamps are retiring this year.  The colors are Cranberry Crisp, Mellow Moss, True Thyme and Chocolate Chip.

First I stamped the large rose in cranberry on Very Vanilla cardstock.  Then I stamped the leaves with True Thyme (don't forget the In Color colors are retiring this month also!).  I used my sponge dauber to "burnish" the flower with cranberry and the leaves with thyme.  I don't think the scan shows this technique very well.  I matted this with Mellow Moss and again with Chocolate Chip.

I stamped the Ephemera background stamp in cranberry on the cranberry base card.  I used a 1 1/4" strip of Recollections DS paper along the left side.  I added the flower image to the top.  I then stamped the thanks from the Designer Label Punch Box set with cranberry on vanilla and punched it out.  I punched a 1 3/8" circle from Mellow Moss to mat behind the label.  I adhered that to the card and then I added 4 vintage brads in the 4 corners of the label.

I hope my customer likes it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

When I was playing with the crayon resist technique from last week, I made an extra piece.  I couldn't decide which I liked better (do you ever do that?).   So, since I had this extra piece, I decide to turn it into a card and send it as a thank you to Tracy for her generosity in letting me attend her workshop.

This one told me it wanted to be much brighter than my last card.  So I used the same Mixed Bouquet (retiring) stamp set in Black StazOn on the Glossy White cardstock.  Then I used the crayon all over the flowers so the ink wouldn't stick.  I used the same Vintage Violet to brayer over the stamping as on this card, but that's where the similarities ended. 

After I removed the crayon, I colored the centers of the flowers with Summer Sun ink.  I matted this panel on Summer Sun and then again on Basic Black (with only an 1/8" border instead of my normal 1/4").  On the base card (Green Galore) I stamped the flowers from Background Basics (also retiring) in Green Galore.  Then I stamped the saying in black from Simple Sayings (also retiring).  I added the panel to the card and WOW!  is it bright!  But that was the look I was going for - bright and cheery.  I hope Tracy enjoys it as much as I did making it.

This week's Technique Lover's Challenge was to use the crayon resist technique.  I love this technique and it's perfect with line art images like Mixed Bouquet (another retiring set - are you noticing a theme?!).

I combined the technique with today's color challenge of Vintage Violet, Certainly Celery and Old Olive.  Check out the gallery for this color combination here.

To create my card I stamped the daisy with Black StazOn on Glossy white cardstock.  Then I used a crayon (any color will work) to highlight those areas where I didn't want the ink to stick.  I used my sponge dauber (great little tool!) to add Vintage Violet color all over the Glossy white panel.  After I had the color to the intensity I wanted, I used a rag to rub off the crayon (and this allows the white to show through).

I matted this panel with the Celery palette o' prints paper and that was matted with Basic Black.

The base card is Old Olive and I used a piece of Vintage Violet for a panel on the side.  I stamped it randomly with the daisy in Vintage Violet.  To finish the card I used a buckle from the hodgepodge hardware and punched a piece of Violet with the Word Window punch and slid that through the buckle.  I added stitching lines using my black Stampin' Write marker.  I adhered the buckle/strap to the card using mini-glue dots.

I'd love it if you gave this technique a try and shared your results with me!