I have created a 20-card kit with all the card-making materials including embellishments and envelopes and a 12-page tutorial with colored photos for $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping.  As a bonus, you will also receive two additional card formats which you can also use with the materials in your kit. 

Here's a sneak peek of one of the cards you can create out of the kit:

What is included in the kit?

• Whisper White CS for Card Bases
• Whisper White Envelopes
• PreCut Textured CS
• Precut CS for Layers/Punching
• PreCut DSP
• 1 Sheet Each of Three Different Self-Adhesive Die Cut Sheets
• Brads/Ribbon
• 1 Sheet of Stampin' Dimensionals

The 12-page tutorial will be emailed to both local and online customers.

There will be a few supplies you will need to create the cards:

• Trimmer (104152)
• Bone Folder (102300)
• Snail Adhesive (104332)
• Piercing Tool/Mat (116631/105826)
• Paper Snips (103579)
• Various Circle Punches
  • 2-3/8" Scallop Circle (118874)
  • 1-3/4" (119850)
  • 1-3/8"(119860)
  • 1-1/4" (119861)
  • 1" (119868)
• Various Heart Punches
  • Small Heart (117193)
  • Full Heart (119883)

I can only sell the complete kits to U.S. customers.  However, I can sell the tutorial to anyone! 

Demonstrators – this kit is perfect for a Stamp-A-Stack!!  I purposely created all-occasion cards that were easy enough for the beginner, but special enough to please your toughest customer!  I will be happy to sell the tutorial to interested demonstrators for only $7.00.

Love Birds Card Kit Options

20-Card Kit – Local Pickup $25.00 20-Card Kit – Shipped $30.00 Tutorial by Email $7.00

The 20 cards I created use most of the self-adhesive die cuts included in the kit – but there will be some cut card stock and Designer Series Paper left over to use on other projects.  You can even make the kit go further if you stamp or punch other items to accent the cards.

Today I am featured in the SUDSOL New Catalog Blog Tour!  SUDSOL (Simply Unique Demonstrators Sharing Online) is a fabulous resource for demonstrators, and this group of stampers is so willing to share their business ideas, creative projects, and support.  SUDSOL is especially wonderful if you don't have a local or involved upline.  I have been a member of SUDSOL since 2002 – and it is the email group I turn to for 100% of my business questions.  You must be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to join this group, and there is a fee to join, but this group will boost your confidence and business ability like no other on the web!  Plus, there are so many ways to earn FREE membership – why not take the 2-week trial and check it out for yourself!  Be sure to use me – Jane Hignite – as your referral!!! 

Join me on SUDSOL – Your 24/7 Upline!

I always host a Christmas in July stamp camp, which is a customer favorite.  This year, one of the popular cards at the event was my Punched Art Reindeer Card.  This card showed off the new Cherry Cobbler card stock, the Early Espresso card stock and ink, Jolly Holiday DSP, and even the new OWL punch.  I also used the brand-new stamp set WORD PLAY.  There are so many wonderful phrases in that stamp set!  This is the card we created!!  Isn't he cute?

Supplies Needed for Punched Art Reindeer Card:

• Naturals Ivory/Early Espresso/Cherry Cobbler CS
• Jolly Holiday DSP
• Wood Sheets
• Early Espresso Inkpad
• Large Oval/Snowflake/1/4" Circle/Owl Punch
• Paper Piercing Tool/Gold Brads/Hole Guide
• Word Play Stamp Set
• Tombow MultiPurpose Glue/Monoadhesive/Stampin' Dimensionals
• Toothpick/Empty Brad Container
• Scissors

Now, you could use this same idea of a punched art reindeer on other items so I created this adorable gift tag using the same punched art.  There is even room on the top right to handwrite the to and from.  I absolutely love using my BIG SHOT – and the TOP NOTE die is one that never seems to leave my table!  At first, I planned on diecutting my son's name (Joey), but it was more universal to use JOY instead.

Supplies Needed for Punched Art Reindeer Tag:

• Naturals Ivory/Early Espresso/Cherry Cobbler CS
• Jolly Holiday DSP
• Large Oval/Snowflake/1/4" Circle/Owl Punch NEW
• Paper Piercing Tool
• Big Shot/Top Note Die/Timeless Type Alphabet
• Crop-A-Dile/Jumbo Eyelets (Pewter)
• Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon
• Tombow MultiPurpose Glue/Monoadhesive/Stampin' Dimensionals
• Toothpick/Empty Brad Container
• Scissors

Finally, I wanted to create a little make and take for an upcoming workshop.  For this I also used the new 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch – oh, how I love that punch!!!!  Here is a darling little tote that has reindeer food on the inside:

Supplies Needed for Punched Art Reindeer Food Tote:

• Naturals Ivory/Early Espresso/Cherry Cobbler CS
• Jolly Holiday DSP
• Large Oval/Snowflake/1/4" Circle/Owl Punch
• Paper Piercing Tool
• Word Play Stamp Set
• Old Olive/More Mustard Markers
• Eyelet Border Punch/2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch NEW/1-3/4" Circle Punch
• Vanilla Wide Grosgrain Ribbon
• Small Flat Cellophane Bags
• Tombow MultiPurpose Glue/Monoadhesive/Stampin' Dimensionals
• Toothpick/Empty Brad Container
• Scissors/Stapler
• Scoring Tool
• Reindeer Food

Now, you know you want to make these adorable items!  I have created some extremely detailed and easy-to-follow tutorials for all three projects.  Purchase just one tutorial, two tutorials, or all three tutorials (saving you $1.00).  Once I receive payment via Paypal, I will email the tutorial out to you within 24 hours.

Punched Reindeer Tutorials

Punched Reindeer Card $2.00 Punched Reindeer Tag $2.00 Punched Reindeer Tote $2.00 All 3 Tutorials $5.00

Emailed within 24 hours

If you want to see more of my stamping creations, you can check out my Featured Stamper (12/09) Sudsol Gallery HERE or my regular SUDSOL gallery HERE

I certainly hope you enjoyed your visit on the SUDSOL New Catalog Blog Tour. 

At my Technique Tuesday class last week, I taught my customers the Scored Background Technique.  This is really a very easy way to give a card some texture and dimension.  The supplies should be in your stamping stash too!  All you really need is card stock and a scoring tool.

If you are going to stamp the background piece, you should stamp before scoring.  Then you need to decide if you want to scored background to  have "hill" or "valley" scores.  Score the stamped piece upside down for "hills"; score the stamped piece facing up for "valleys".

You need to score the piece both horizontally and vertically for "squares" – however, you can choose to do it just one way for a different look.

Find your middle of the card stock and start the score there.  I like to start in the middle because then it is balanced on both ends.  Start in the middle and make your score lines at the same intervals, then move back to the middle (or flip if you need to) and score the remaining section.  The size of your score intervals can be large or small, depending on the look desired.  I personally like the 1/2" score size and look. 

Turn your cardstock a half turn and then do the same to create "squares". 

This is also a great technique to create windows or even Hershey Bars!  My kids love to make Smores in the backyard firepit which inspired this card: 

Supplies Needed

• Under the Stars/Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Sets
• Cajun Craze/Early Espresso/Crumb Cake/More Mustard/Whisper White CS
• Cajun Craze/Early Espresso/Crumb Cake Ink
• Scallop Circle #2 Die/Big Shot/Polka Dot Embossing Folder
• Scoring Tool with Measuring Guide
• Sponge
• Distressing Tool
• Large Square/Word Window/Modern Label Punches

Directions

• Stamp smore in Early Espresso all over Cajun Craze piece. 

• Turn over and score 1/2" apart horizontally.

• Turn cardstock a quarter turn and score vertically.

• With piece of Early Espresso, score horizontally and vertically also.  Cut a square from this for your Hershey bar.  Be sure to cut just beyond the score line for the best effect.
• Punch out square in Whisper White for marshmallow and use distressing tool on edges.
• Sponge all over square to get marshmallow colored to your liking.
• Run a piece of Crumb Cake through the Polka Dot embossing folder.  Use square punch to cut out graham crackers.
• Run the Scallop Circle die through the Big Shot with More Mustard card stock.
• Stamp phrase in Early Espresso on Whisper White and punch with Word Window punch.  Punch Modern Label with Cajun Craze.
• Mount and adhere all pieces.

What is VC Rocks…and why do I love it??  VC Rocks is an online community where members share their love of stamping before, during, and after the Stampin’ Up! convention.  If you can’t go (or even if you can) to convention, you can get your "stampin’ mojo fix" with challenges, swaps, and discussions!  I have "met’ many fabulous stamping demos and nondemos through this group.

Thanks for stopping by, and now your next stop is -   www.theloveofstamping.com

One of the retiring stamp sets I will miss using with my customers is Owl Together Now.  At my Technique Tuesday class this month, I showcased one of the easiest ways to create a Faux Shaker card.

The biggest time saver is using a CD/Disk Envelope.  You can find these in almost any office supply or discount store.  I then cut one apart to use as a template when planning my stamped piece.  The white insert piece is 4.75" x 4.75". 

I punched out one Scallop Circle in Old Olive.  I trimmed off the edge on the left side.  I then trimmed the strip of textured Chocolate Chip card stock to look like a tree trunk.   The textured card stock does give the tree some dimension!  Do not use too much confetti – in fact, less is more!  I used small gold and red hearts.

Before attaching the tree parts to the Whisper White card stock, I stamped the branch in Old Olive and then stamped 3 owls in Chocolate Chip.  The hearts and the phrase were stamped in Real Red.  (Sorry for the fuzzy picture here)

I stamped the outside of the CD envelope with hearts and then sponged it with Chocolate Chip ink.  I inserted the Whisper White stamped piece into the CD envelope.  I put the confetti inside and sealed the envelope so the confetti doesn’t fall out!   I mounted the sealed envelope to a piece of Old Olive card stock and then to a folded piece of Whisper White.    Here is the finished card:

Supplies Needed:

• Textured Chocolate Chip/Old Olive/Whisper White Card Stock
• Chocolate Chip/Old Olive/Real Red Ink
• CD Envelope
• Confetti
• MonoAdhesive
• Sponge

What is VC Rocks…and why do I love it??  VC Rocks is an online community where members share their love of stamping before, during, and after the Stampin’ Up! convention.  If you can’t go (or even if you can) to convention, you can get your "stampin’ mojo fix" with challenges, swaps, and discussions!  I have "met’ many fabulous stamping demos and nondemos through this group.

Welcome to the first 2010 VC Rocks Bloghop.. you’ve most likely arrived here from www.stampinldyglfr62.blogspot.com, but if not, you can return to the start of our Blog Hop at www.vcrocks.blogspot.com .

I had the extreme pleasure of creating scrapbooks with a group of Brownie Scouts.  As a mother of three boys, this was a dramatic change from my usual environment!  It was lots of fun, and I think they really enjoyed creating a memory scrapbook from this year’s activities.  One of their activities we scrapbooked included baking together…I knew I had to create a little chef using my Stampin’ Up! punches!!!!

Since May is National Scrapbooking Month, I thought I would share this page for the first-ever VC Rocks Blog Hop!  For this month’s Blog Hop, we are featuring retiring colors and new Summer Occasions stamp sets.  I used both:  Close to Cocoa is featured on the page and is on the retiring color list (thankfully, more brown hues are coming), and I used one of the phrases from Go, Graduate from the Summer Mini Catalog on the page.  Here is the page:

Supplies Needed:

• Chocolate Chip/Close to Cocoa/So Saffron/Very Vanilla/Whisper White Card Stock*
• Chocolate Chip and Ruby Red Markers and Chocolate Chip Ink*
• Big Shot with Ovals Die
• Punches:  Scallop Edge/Word Window/Large Tag/1" Circle/Designer Label/5-Petal Flower/Trio Flower/Round Tab Punch
• Go, Graduate Stamp Set
• Flower Assortment Brads
• Paper Piercing Tool and Mat Pack
• Crimper
• Stampin’ Dimensionals and MonoAdhesive

Instructions

1. Use Scallop Edge punch on large Close to Cocoa piece and Chocolate Chip Photo Backing.  Mount pieces.
2. Stamp phrase and punch out with Large Oval punch.  Stamp a Designer Label piece in So Saffron.  Mount pieces.
3. Center holes for trio of brads and insert brads.
4. Use Big Shot and Oval Die with So Saffron card stock.  Use largest oval for punched art backing.
5. Crimp piece of Whisper White card stock.  Punch out with round tab punch at halfway line.
6. Punch in Very Vanilla the following:  (2) Word Windows-arms, (1) 1" Circle – face, (1) Trio Flower – dress buttons
7. Punch in Chocolate Chip the following:  (1) Round Tab – back hair, (1) 5-Petal Flower – front hair, (1) Large Tag – dress
8. With the 5-Petal punched piece, use the 1" Circle punch to cut off a section for the "bangs".
9. Use half of Round Tab punch for the "back hair"
10. Cut off a section of the Word Window pieces for shorter arms.
11. Create eyes and mouth and dots in the buttons with the markers.
12. Attach all pieces and pop up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
13. Mount remaining pieces.

*colors you may use will differ for hair color and eye color…

ALSO – in the theme of "little chef"  – My customers have been begging for me to share my dessert recipes that I serve at events so I have added a new section on my blog under EVENTS for my EVENT RECIPES.  I will be adding more this weekend…

I also used Pale Plum and Mellow Moss to showcase some of our retiring colors.  The Pale Plum/Mellow Moss/Perfect Plum combination was one of my first "go-to" color combos when I first became a demonstrator.  I will miss it, but truly I haven’t used it that often in recent years.

Here is the card (colors are a bit off in this photo):

I used the tag punch (hat), word window punch (hat brim), scallop circle punch (hair), 1/4" circle punch (eyeballs and nose) 1-3/8" circle punch (face), and designer label for the tag.  The hair is Really Rust; the face and nose is Blush Blossom, and Glorious Green is used for the hat and brim.  To make the center of the eyes, I used my 1/8" circle punch with Basic Black card stock.  I drew the smile.  To add some dimension to Leprechaun Larry’s nose, I sponged the circle with Blush Blossom ink.

Don’t forget to check out my blog on Wednesday, March 17th for a spectacular special that will have you doing a Stampin’ Up! jig!

Here is one of the examples for this week’s stamp camp:

I really think the crimping of the ovals add some fun to my fish!  Hope you enjoy this one!

Today it is rainy and chilly in Wisconsin – perfect weather for making (and don’t forget SENDING) cards.  I have been a bit remiss myself in sending out birthday remembrances, anniversary wishes, and other cards.  Why should I wait until January 1st for a resolution!  I am promising to get all my October cards made and addressed this weekend. 

I also have to upload about one hundred more cards to my new gallery.  I hope my camera battery can take it! 

Don’t you love my new website/blog?   Michelle Laycock did the design work.  She is simply amazing and made my blog design dreams come true.  If you are in the need for a blog or website design, contact her (www.laycockdesigns.com)!