Shaving the Leprechaun?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I do hope the Luck of the Irish is with you today and always. I figure I’m Irish by proxy since I married an Irishman..hahaha, but today, we all get to be a little bit Irish. So in honor of the day, I created a couple of cute little St. Patty’s Day cards to share with you using the Shaving Cream technique to create my background paper.

 

The little Leprechaun was made using Whisper White and the 1¾’ circle punch for his face, the Decorative Label punch cut in half for his hat and the Word Window punch for the brim of his hat, punched from Cucumber Crush. For his beard, I used the 1¾” scalloped circle punch pushing the Pumpkin Pie paper only ¾ of the way through. I added a little Pink Pirouette ink to his cheeks and free handed his facial features using the Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker™.

The Shamrock was made using the Sweetheart Punch and Cucumber Crush. I punched 3 hearts and for the stem, I used the Bird Builder punch. I then adhered all of the pieces to a 1” circle I punched from the Cucumber Crush cardstock. I then popped that up on Dimensionals™ onto a 2½” circle punch.

For the background paper on both cards, I used the Shaving Cream technique. I started with a plate full of shaving cream (I used Barbersol since that is what my husband shaves with) and I then added random drops of Cucumber Crush, Wild Wasabi and Pear Pizzazz re-inkers and “stirred” them around until I had the desired marbling effect. (Avoid over mixing/stirring as you will end up with a muddy mess if you do). Once I was happy with how the shaving cream looked, I took my cardstock that was pre-cut to 5¼” x 4”  and placed it face down into the shaving cream. Then I just wiped away the excess cream and hit it with my heat tool to quickly dry the paper. I then added my embellishments and my sentiment, which comes from the ever popular Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, and Viola!  

Go ahead and try the Shaving Cream technique, experiment with other colors. The sky is the limit on this one. Try blues for a water or sky effect. Use a mix of reds and greens for a Christmas look or pinks and yellows and soft blues for an Easter/Spring look.  Like I said, you can go in many directions with this one technique. So pull out those re-inkers and raid your husbands side of the vanity. You will be pleasantly surprised with your results!

Please leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts on this one.

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Ink Refill
$3.25

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Ink Refill
$3.25

Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Ink Refill
$3.25

Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker
$3.50

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.50

Cucumber Crush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Pumpkin Pie 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Metal Rimmed Pearls
$5.00

1-3/4" Circle Punch
$18.00

1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch
$18.00

Large Oval Punch
$16.00

2-1/2" Circle Punch
$18.00

Sweetheart Punch
$16.00

Teeny Tiny Wishes Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$37.00

Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00

Snail Permanent Adhesive
$7.00

Generated by SUDSOL, Free Trial at www.sudsol.org

It's a Collage of Color

Hello, today, I have a card for you that I made for the weekly sketch challenge going on over on my Facebook page and wanted to share. Once again, I ventured outside my usual Subtle colors that I naturally gravitate to, and came up with this. So, what do you think?

 

Supplies Used:

Basic Black 8 ½” x 5 ½” scored at 4 ¼” and folded for the card base.

Botanicals Garden DSP panel cut 2 ¾”x 5”

Basic Black layer cut 3 ¼”x 4 ¾”

Botanical Gardens DSP cut 3”x 4 ½” (I just turned over the DSP and used the backside of the same 12”x12” I had already cut for the 1^st layer)

Basic Black layer cut 2 ¾”x 3 ¾”

Whisper White layer cut 2 ½”x 3 ½”

Basic Black cut 3 ¼”x 1 ¼”

Whisper White layer cut 3”x 1”

Scrap Whisper White to stamp and punch flowers from

Beautiful Bunch Stamp set

Butterfly Basics Stamp set

Petite Petals punch

Candy Dots (Neutral Collection)

Cajun Craze Ink

Mossy Meadow

Hello Honey

Snail Adhesive

Glue Dots

Stampin’ Dimensionals

 

I began by adhering the yellow pattern of the Botanicals Garden DSP to the right of the card base using Snail adhesive. I then took the second piece of the DSP and adhered that to the Basic Black layer and adhered that to the center of the card, then, I inked up the Honeycomb image from the Butterfly Basics stamp set, using Hello Honey ink, and I stamped off then stamped it onto my Whisper White panel. I did that a total of 3 times to fill the panel. I then used the fern image, also from the Butterfly Basics stamp set with Mossy Meadow ink. I stamped down with full ink then without lifting the bottom of the stem, I slightly pivoted the stamp getting a lighter and lighter effect. Then, using the Cajun Craze ink and the small flower from the Beautiful Bunch stamp set, I stamped a total of 3 images on to scrap Whisper White and punched them out using the Petite Petals punch and added them to the panel using glue dots and adhered the panel to the Basic Black layer and adhered that to the right side of the card again using Snail. I then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Butterfly Basics stamp set with the Cajun Craze ink and adhered it to the Basic Black layer and adhered that to the bottom of the card using Stampin’ Dimensionals and added three Basic Black candy dots.

 

I hope you enjoyed this card, please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts. Have a wonderful day and see you Thursday!

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper
$11.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.50

Beautiful Bunch Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$20.00

Petite Petals Punch
$13.00

Neutrals Candy Dots
$3.75

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Generated by SUDSOL, Free Trial at www.sudsol.org

If You're Not on My Mailing List........

If you’re not on my mailing list look what you’re missing out on http://conta.cc/1SGkGtz ! Be sure to go to the end to get your free downloadable PDF!

 I promise not to inundate your mailbox with crazy spam mail. I only send out a monthly newsletter and on occasion a notice on a special up coming events. I’m like you, I hate a bunch of useless information in my in-box therefore, I only send you condensed information once a month. So, please go ahead and join my mailing list to keep up with what’s going on in the world of SnS From the Heart. You will be the first to know about future classes.  I plan to continue to offer mail order classes with complete instructions as well. I will share free tutorials using different techniques and other fun stuff. And to sweeten the pot as they say, everyone that is on my mailing list as of April 1^st will ALL be placed in a drawing to win a free stamp set!

The Best Advise I ever Got about Stamping

Can you smell it? Spring is in the air! I do love this time of year! Yesterday we hit 70 degrees here in Central  NY! I was actually able to open my windows and doors for a bit to let the outdoors indoors. I love how the house smells after a warm Spring breeze comes through. Now I am anxious for gardening season to begin!

Ok, today, I wanted to talk to you about the BEST advise I have ever gotten about stamping. I was told, ‘there are no mistakes in stamping!” At first, when my friend told me this, my face must have spoke volumes because she immediately recognized what I was thinking, because my first thoughts were, “oh yeah, you should see all my “mistakes”. And she said, “think about this, first of all, a little blemish can easily be concealed with an embellishment, and we should always add flair to our work anyway and second, even if you can’t conceal it with an embellishment, there is ALWAYS two sides to your paper!” After I had thought about this for a fashion, I realized she was 100% right on the money!

So many times, a little smudge here or there, just provides an opportunity to add a little extra sumthin’ Sumthin’ to the overall design of the project. So really, our mistakes aren’t mistakes at all, but opportunities.

So, the next time you make a “mistake”, don’t think of it as such, retrain your thinking and look at it as an opportunity and ask yourself, how can I further embellish my project and make it that much more spectacular? I will bet more times than not, you will come up with something that is even better than you had originally planned it to be. So, my advise to you…”there are NO mistakes in stamping!” Embellish away!

 

Happy Stamping,

Katrina



 

Let's Get Your Color On!

Hello,

Well it’s finally beginning to look like Spring just might be making an appearance in the Northeast! I think I may have told you this before but Spring is my most favorite of all the seasons. The sun is warm and bright and everything is green and new again. And I love the smell of fresh Spring air! Makes me smile just thinking about it!

Ok….I digress, and I do apologize….I get a little excited when the snow begins to melt! What I really wanted to talk to you about today is color! Or color combinations to be more precise. Sometimes, it can seem difficult to come up with color combinations for our projects, however, there are a lot of resources available to assist in this endeavor. Take this project for instance,

This card uses colors completely outside of my normal comfort zone, however, I used my Stampin’ Up!® catalog as a source of inspiration. You see, Stampin’ Up! has paper packs of select colors that coordinate with designer series paper packs, basically, they bundle colors together, so that is how I came up with the colors for this card. This is Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay and Watermelon Wonder…..on my own, I never would have considered these colors together, however, Stampin’ Up!’s color experts did the work for me and I took full advantage. I made this card for a sketch challenge over on my Facebook page.  Another source for color combinations is to look at colors within designer series paper. You’re guaranteed a perfect look combining colors from within the pallet found in these patterns. Other great color inspirations come from fabric and multicolor rugs and tapestries. Take a look around, look at your floral arrangements in your backyard gardens, what about that pretty multicolor blouse you love so much? There is color inspiration just about anywhere you look. Don’t be afraid to stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. You never know, just be open to new ideas. Color is a beautiful thing. Embrace it and experiment with it. Where do you find your color inspiration? Comment below and let me know where you find your color inspiration!

Thank you for stopping by, I truly appreciate it.

Happy Stamping

Katrina

The Stampin’ Up! ® Opportunity

Hello, I hope Dorothy and her little dog Toto didn’t make a visit to you today. My goodness, the wind has been insane around here. Some of those gusts just about knocked me down!

 Anyway, I wanted to talk to you today about the Stampin’ Up! opportunity because it really is an amazing opportunity. I say it’s amazing because where else can you build a business YOUR way? Where else can you be a business owner and chose to be a hobbyist or chose to be a full time for profit business owner? No where that I am aware of except Stampin’ Up! It’s true! When you sign up to be a Stampin’ Up! business owner, YOU choose how you want to run YOUR business! You choose to set your goals, or not. You choose if you want to work your business full time or part-time. YOU choose if you want to hold classes, if YOU want to hold workshops and if YOU want to build a downline.

Stampin’ Up! is completely customizable, right down to your demonstrator kit! Yep, you get to choose what you get in your demonstrator starter kit! You get to choose $125 in product (ANY PRODUCT) and pay only $99! And it’s free shipping too! And to sweeten the pot, right now, during Sale-a-Bration™, you can add an additional $30 worth of product to your order for FREE!

In addition to all of this, as an additional bonus for being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, you get an exclusive, FREE, subscription to the demonstrator magazine, Stampin’ Success, a quarterly magazine FULL of great stamping and card ideas as well as a wealth of business building tips and ideas. You also get access to a free demonstrator website, Stampin’ Connection, also FREE and exclusive and chock full of wonderful ideas shared by demonstrators both new and seasoned who are always ready to share and help you succeed! And on top off all of that, you get to save 20% off ALL of your orders and you earn a 20% commission from your customer orders as well….and if that wasn’t sweet enough, once you sell or purchase a grand total of $1800, you will begin to save/earn 25%!

So, again, where else do you get to love what you do and do what you love and do it YOUR way? If any of this sounds like something your interested in, just click here, and if you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I am here to help you. You can either leave me a comment below or contact me by using the “contact me” tab above. I would love to assist you.

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

Happy Spring and Happy Birthday #imbringingbirthdaysback

Hello and Happy March 1^st! One more day closer to Spring! I don’t know about you, but Spring is probably my most favorite season of all! Everything is so fresh, clean and new again. I love it.

Anyhoo, I want to let you know that I have decided to participate in the #imbringingbirthdaysback movement, started by Stampin’ Up!’s ® own Shannon West. I want to share in making YOUR birthday something special, so that is what inspired today’s card share and I would LOVE to send you a birthday card on your birthday, you just need to send me your name and address along with your birthday, using the “contact me” up above on the navigation bar and I will personally mail you a birthday card on your birthday!



For today’s card, I used Mint Macaron cut 8 ½” x 5 ½” scored and folded at 4 ¼” for the card base. I then cut a piece of DSP from the “Itsmy Party” DSP pack, 5 ¼” x 4” and adhered it to the card base. I then cut another piece of Mint Macaron 3 ¼” x 4 ¼” and a piece of Mellon Mambo 3” x 4” and I embossed the Mellon Mambo piece with the Lucky Stars TIEF and adhered that to the Mint Macaron piece. I then took a piece of CrushedCurry and cut that to 3 ½” x 1 ½” and adhered that side ways across the card. I then cut another layering piece of MintMacaron 1 ¾” x 3 ½” and a piece of WhisperWhite 1 ½” x 3 ¼” and stamped the balloon strings from the stamp set, Balloon Celebration using Memento Tuxedo Black™ ink added a stamped Mellon Mambo ribbon (also in the stamp set) and adhered it to the layering piece of Mint Macaron. I adhered that down to the card base. I then stamped one of the large balloon shapes onto scrap CrushedCurry and stamped the inside with CrushedCurry ink using the “spatter” stamp in the set for a tone on tone effect. I then stamped and punched a small balloon from the same Crushed Curry cardstock and 2 each of Mellon Mambo and Mint Macaron all also with the same tone on tone. I then adhered them to the balloon strings using Stampin’Dimensionals ™.  As a final touch, I stamped Happy Birthday onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock cut ½” x 3” and I bannered the one end and placed that with Dimensionals also.

So, what are your thoughts? Let me know below in the comments. I look forward to hearing what you think. In the meantime, Happy Stamping and have a great day, til next time,

Katrina

Mint Macaron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.50

Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$7.00

Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folders
$5.63

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00

Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad
$11.25

Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack
$26.00

Balloon Celebration Photopolymer Stamp Set
$26.00

Balloon Bouquet Punch
$18.00

Balloon Celebration Photopolymer Bundle
$37.25

Generated by SUDSOL, Free Trial at www.sudsol.org

Paper Pumpkin - Going Outside the Box and Stretching Your Supplies

Happy Saturday! Tax time for the hubby and I, but I wanted to share a couple of projects with you before I head out. Today, to complete my series on Paper Pumpkin®, I want to talk a little about using the supplies you receive in your box to create something totally different from the “instructions”. That’s one of the beautiful benefits of Paper Pumpkin. You are not tied to those written instructions; you are limited only by your imagination.

Here, I created an adorable little treat bag using my kit and a few extra supplies I had around my craft room.



I started with one of the Stampin Up! ® Kraft Tag a Bag gift bags©; and I randomly stamped it using Crumb Cake ink and the splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. I then added the loopy loop Calypso Coral flower from the kit to the front of the bag along with a couple of the leaves and flowers from the kit. I then stamped a Whisper White banner from the kit with Blackberry Bliss ink with the sentiment, Hello Sunshine, also from the Paper Pumpkin kit and adhered that to the left side of the bag. I then took a 5” piece of Venetian Crochet Trim, a 4 ¼” piece of Gold Sequin Trim wrapped with a piece of Linen Thread and attached that with a wooden Clothes Pin (left over from last months Paper Pumpkin!) Isn’t this adorable? What a great way to present a little treat to someone to say, “you mean something to me and I was thinking of you”.

Here is another project/card that I put together using my kit. For this, the only "extra" item that I used that was not in the kit is the 1 sheet of Pool Party cardstock! Everything else is from the Paper Pumpkin kit! For this, I scored and folded a piece of Pool Party cardstock at 4 1/4" after cutting it down to 5 1/2"x8 1/2". I then cut down one of the card fronts from the Paper Pumpkin kit (the one with the Pool Party splotches all over it) to 5 1/4"x4" and stamped the tiny little flower stamp from the exclusive stamp set that comes with the kit, using Blackberry Bliss ink. I then adhered the gold "scribble" rose from the kit off center toward the left side of the card. I then cut a 1/2" x 3"" piece of Pool Party and "bannered" the ends and stuck that down to the front of the card, just to the right of the rose, I then stamped Happy Birthday onto one of the Whisper White banner pieces again, using the Blackberry Bliss ink, all of which is included in the February kit and I adhered that down a bit askew over the Pool Party banner. Pretty cute eh?

Thank you so much for stopping by. I truly hope you enjoyed today’s projects. I would be eternally grateful if you would leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Also, let me know what you would like to see in the future. And if you would like to give Paper Pumpkin a try, just click hereto join. There are many options to fit everyone. There is a single subscription of $19.95 and you will receive just one kit , there is the 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions and then there is a recurring subscription for $19.95/month. In order to receive the March kit, you MUST sign up by no later than 3/10/2016. After that date, your first kit will arrive in April. If you have ANY questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, I am here to help!
Happy Stamping,
Katrina

Following the Directions

Hi, the other day we talked about what a great value Paper Pumpkin ® is, now today, I want to talk about the simplicity of Paper Pumpkin and the many other benefits of these great kits. 

Have you ever wanted to sit down and craft but felt you just didn’t have the time? Have you ever thought, “I would love to make a personal card for someone that I care for, but I just don’t want to make that investment into supplies”? Does any of this sound like you? What if I told you that Paper Pumpkin can remove those barriers for you? It’s true! 

Paper Pumpkin is fast and easy! Using the February kit as an example, the 3 cards below, I put together in a matter of 20 minutes! That’s right! 20 minutes! Within 20 minutes I had followed the directions and completed 3 hand stamped cards that I can now give out to family and friends as needed. And the best part, I have the supplies for 6 more cards left over, so the next time I have a few minutes to spare, I can sit down and put the remainder of my kit together. So, yes, there is time to craft! In addition, adding to the value of these great kits, you now have a terrific, exclusive stamp set and at least one new ink spot to add to your collection and if you are doing the monthly subscription, your only investment is $19.95 + tax, so no big upfront investment for supplies and you don’t have to try to remember all of what you need while wandering around a craft store because all of the supplies necessary to complete your project get delivered to you in your little orange box.

Paper Pumpkin ® February 2016

So, I urge you, if any of this remotely sounds like you, go ahead and sign up. Try a 3 month pre-paid subscription and just give it a test drive. I can promise, you will truly enjoy these kits as much as I do. The designs are always adorable and the simplicity is always there. And right now is the best time to try a 3 month pre-paid subscription as it is on sale for $55 and qualifies you for a free Sale-a-Bration™ item, just click here to Join Now! 

I hope you decide to join me with a Paper Pumpkin subscription. In the meantime, happy stamping!

Katrina