Ah, summer – I do wish it would linger a little longer.  The kids go back to school on Thursday; therefore, I should have more time to concentrate on my blog entries! 

 If you ever get lost along the way during the blog hop, you can go back to the main page – www.vcrocks.blogspot.com .

The theme of this blog hop is Punches Galore!

At least once a year, I host a Just Punchy Stamp Camp.  This event is a customer favorite – so much so I am now hosting 2-3 Just Punchy events each year.  I love teaching my customers how to create projects using Stampin' Up! punches in traditional and out-of-the-box ways.  This Tuesday August 16th is my next one – if you are local to West Bend, WI and would like to attend – send me an email to register!

Today's card was from one of my previous Just Punchy Stamp Camps – and is definitely an all-time favorite.  Throughout the entire United States, it has been a hot and humid summer, so I am now calling this card my Dog Days of Summer Punch Art Card!  I will also be offering this card as a card kit through the end of September.  The background color is actually Cherry Cobbler – my camera didn't seem to capture that correctly!

I hope you bookmark my site or subscribe to my blog. You can also find me on my Facebook page – Stamp With Jane!

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.

 

 

This is card uses two techniques –  paper piecing and suspension format!

This card uses a very cool vellum technique!

Goodbye, Sock Monkey – we will miss you!

Here is an example using the Polka Dots embossing folder. 

My stampers know I love to mix in Chocolate Chip with pinks and blues.  Here is an example with a wheeled section:

Another reason why I loved this stamp set is it worked well with techniques as there were bold images and fine line images in the stamp set.  Here is a card using the Vanilla Double and the Direct to Paper techniques.

Here is how it came out – I think it is quite elegant!

The theme of this blog hop is COLORING.  If you know me very well, you know I love quick and easy results in cardmaking.  I also love to use bleach in my stamping as it makes the house smell clean and fools the husband and kiddies that mom cleaned all day instead of stamped all day.

One of my favorite stamp sets in the new Summer Mini Catalog is Sail Away.  This is a perfect stamp set for coloring with bleach!

First off, here are the supplies you'll need for the technique:

I am heat embossing the image first (you could also use StazOn instead).  I've got my handy dandy heat embossing reflector (a piece of cardboard covered in aluminum foil), my SU heat gun, black embossing powder, embossing buddy, VersaMark, stamp, bleach (bleach should be "fresh"), nonpourous bowl, and bleach applicator (cheap paintbrush).

Whenever you are working with bleach, be careful for your health and safety.  Work in a ventilated area and protect your eyes, clothing, and stamping station.  If you are pregnant, I highly suggest you take bleach stamping off your to-do list until after your baby blessing has arrived!

Coloring with Bleach Tutorial – Sail Away Card

1.  Heat emboss the sailboat image.

I used Not Quite Navy card stock which was already run through my Big Shot and the Scallop Circle #2 die.  I ran my embossing buddy over it first and then heat set the black embossing powder.

2.  Take cap off bleach and pour a small amount of bleach in the cap from the bleach bottle.

3.  Apply bleach using paintbrush or other applicator tool to the portion of the embossed image you want "colored":

You should immediately see some color change.  If you don't, your bleach may be too old or not "fresh" enough.

Coloring with bleach actually is taking AWAY color from the card stock.  Different card stock, even different card stock lots, will produce varying results.  I suggest trying to bleach on a small piece of scrap card stock before finalizing your selection or coordinating colors for the card design.

4.  Finish the bleaching and set aside to dry.

5.  Once dry, attach image to your card.

I hope you bookmark my site or subscribe to my blog.  I've got some fabulous new programs I'm unveiling in the coming weeks.  You can also find me on my Facebook page – Stamp With Jane! 

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.

I am not a seamstress in any way, shape, or form.  I earned my Sewing badge in Girl Scouts, and I made a few simple aprons in my Home Economics class in high school.  I did make my own garter for my high school prom, and I can secure buttons…but really, truly, that is about it.  Although I cannot sew myself, I do appeciate quality handiwork with needle, thread, and fabric.  My sister is a quilter, as are several dear friends of mine.  My mother used to make matching mother and daughter dresses for my sisters and me….my red dress with the bumblebee pattern is still one of my favorite childhood outfit memories.

However, being gifted in the sewing world has NOTHING to do with being artistic in the stamping world!  So I have spent many hours working on this album to showcase the OH SEW SUITE sampler in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. 

Today, I'll share some of the major pieces of the album…you'll have to remember to come back (OR BETTER YET, SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG – check it out on the top left side) to see the next installment – stamped samples!!!

Here is the 8" x 8" Sweet Stitches Binder to hold my Oh Sew Suite Sampler Book.

Here is my title page – I LOVE MY BIG SHOT!!!!!

I love how this page turned out – I used one of my Big Shot Circle Dies for the artist's palette and then punched out a portion of it.  Don't you love the paintbrush?  My Big Shot and my many wonderful Stampin' Up! punches tied much of the pages together throughout this book.

On my STAMPS page, I stamped each stamp set with a different ink color and mounted them on different colored card stock.  A little bit busy, but I really liked the overall look.

Here is my WHEEL page – I've got to get this wheel out more often - it makes great backgrounds!

Here is my Designer Series Paper (DSP) sampler page – I used my 1-3/4" circle punch on every piece except the button DSP…you could easily use portions of this DSP as a focal part of a card!

I love the colored rub-ons!  The little girl is such a darling image.  As a mom of three boys, I don't always get to do the girly girl stuff…so it is fun to do it for a project like this!

Again, the Big Shot to the rescue!  I love how the Scallop Square die and the Scallop Square punch were perfect for this page! 

For the last installment of this blog entry, I had to show you my BLING page – the Oh Sew Suite has so many choices – 3 colors of Pompom trim, 4 colors of 3 different styles of "regular" buttons, and 6 different fabric-covered buttons.  Of course, you can always use our other choices of bling – such as the Basic Jewels – one of my favorite accessories this year!

Now, don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to my blog to see the other portions of this Oh Sew Suite Sampler Book.  I'd love to hear what you think of it so far – so please leave a comment!

To make the hot air balloon, I used Real Red textured cardstock, So Saffron cardstock, hemp, crimper, Build a Cupcake punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, Small Heart punch, crimper, and Stampin' Dimensionals.  Be sure to place the Stampin' Dimensionals on top of the hemp – it helps secure them!  The "clouds" are made from the frosting section of the Build a Cupcake punch and sponged with Marina Mist ink.  On the scrapbook page, I distress the edges of the photo section with our distressing tool. 

In the next couple of days, I am going to have to get this stamp set off my workspace because I must get busy with my many planned fall and winter holiday events.  However, here is the card my workshop guests made:

The color combination is Whisper White, Concord Crush, and Pear Pizzazz.  The Designer Series Paper is from the In Color Paper Stack.  LOVE IT!

The background is the Polka Dot Embossing Folder – another favorite of mine!!!