Welcome to the blog of Jane Hignite, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator


Classic Garage Card

Well, it is about time I start posting again. I have truly fallen down the rabbit hole lately when it comes to posting on my blog. It’s not that I haven’t been creating; I’ve just not had that push to share what I’ve been doing.

New Year resolution…maybe. Not sure I want to jinx it with that.

So I’ve seen lots of posting of butterflies from the new Occasions catalog. While butterflies are gorgeous and stir many religious and other meanings, I am still wishing for a snowy winter so I don’t want to go all spring-themed yet.

What can I get behind? MASCULINE CARDS. I live with all men…and garage life is not just a saying in my house. So I was thrilled with the new Classic Garage suite in the Occasions catalog.

Here is my first creation…I may just have to send it to my North Carolina boy who works on a NASCAR team.

Truly a very basic card style, but the do-dads and thinlets add some interest for a masculine card.  I used the Geared Up Garage stamp set, the Classic Garage 6″ x 6″ DSP, Garage Gears Thinlet Dies, and the Classic Metal Elements.  I also used the oval framelits.   I highly recommend using wax paper in between layers for the gears thinlets.  Color palette is Basic Gray, Basic Black, and Real Red.

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Joy Fun Fold Card

Today is National Joe Day.  Many of you know the story of our dear little Joey, who, when he was just a little guy, would often sign his name forgetting his “e” .  So he was known as our Joy.

I taught a fun fold card technique and was happy I could put a little Joy spin on it for my stampers tonight.

The Fresh Florals DSP is perfect for this card!  I know this is the first time I used the border from the Floral Phrases stamp set.  The framelit phrase actually says “you” but making a quick snip with the scissors creates “joy”.  

Measurements are as follows:

  • Color Cardstock – 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ – scored at 1-1/4″ and 4-1/4″4
  • Whisper White Cardstock – 4″ x 5-1/4″
  • DSP (3 pieces)
  • (2) 2-3/4″ x 5-1/4″
  • (1) 1″ x 5-1/4″

Super easy!

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Easter Bunny Card

At my Spring Cards Stamp Camp, we created an Easter Bunny card using the Layering Ovals Framelits, the Polka Dot Basics embossing folder, and a few other punches (3/4″ for nose, Cookie Cutter Builder for the eyes, and Holly Berry Builder for the bow).  Color combination is Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, and Whisper White.  Stamp set used was Teeny Tiny Wishes for the Easter saying.  Add a gem and the journaling marker for whispers, pop up with dimensionals, and you have my bunny!

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Birthday Beer Card for Mike

My son, Mike, is celebrating his 21st birthday today. At a recent stamp camp, I shared this card with my stampers.

My stampers really loved the fun card and the Bermuda Bay/Crumb Cake/Chocolate Chip color combination.  Our new Bubble Over stamp set is in the Occasions mini catalog.  You can create beer bottles or soda bottles in two different sizes and use framelits so you don’t need to fussy cut!

There is coordinating Designer Series Paper you can get for free during Sale-A-Bration!  Just spend $50 to get your free pack!

Happy birthday, Mike!  Can’t wait to share a cold one with you!

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Hawaiian Couple Punch Card for Joe

Tragedy struck our home last month when my youngest son took his life.  Yes, those are probably the worst words to have to type (and I am sure they are not easy to read).

Although healing has begun, getting back into “business mode” feels almost paralyzing.  All my family, friends, customers, and peers are supporting me and telling me to take all the time I need to get back.  I’m taking little steps, but the first of the month is always crucial for delivering news, specials, and my monthly fun holiday listings.

The night our Joe took his life I hosted my Summer Fun Punch Class.  My sweet, funny boy was known for wearing Hawaiian-style shirts at school.  So as a tribute to him, I am sharing my Hawaiian Couple punch card.

At his wake/memorial service, we suggested guests wear Hawaiian shirts.  We were truly so thrilled to see so many of our family and friends honor Joe by wearing them.  

Love you forever, my Joe.  I pray you keep bringing me joy in the little signs we witness you are with us.

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Wedding Bells and Seashells

A dear friend of mine got married on a beach in Punta Cana this month.  Creating a card for her wedding was easy with the So Many Shells stamp set which is new in the 2017-2018 catalog.  For the card, I used the triple layer technique, and I am so pleased with the results.

The phrases came from the Floral Phrases stamp set; the color combination was Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Blush Blossom, and Soft Suede.

This was perfect as a wedding card, but you could easily change out the phrases and use for a birthday, get well, baby, or thinking of you card!

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Everybody Do the Twist!

Lemon Lime Twist is the one In Color I am having a little trouble with.  It’s sassy, bold, and wants to stand in the spotlight.  SO NOT ME (well, maybe I am a bit on the sassy side).

Lovely Inside & Out was not on my must-have list, but it was on the preorder list.  Demonstrators tend to get those preorder items no matter what because we know other demonstrators will create beautiful items and we don’t want to miss out.

For Tuesday’s In Color Introduction stamp class, I took both challenges and went to Pinterest to get inspiration.  Pinterest did not fail me thank goodness.  However, like any self-respecting demonstrator, I put my own little twist on the design so I felt it was more “mine”.

Wink of Stella is my new stamping obsession.  When I look at a card these days, I look for a way to use WOS on it somehow.  It just perks up that friend overlay perfectly.

Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst are paired perfectly with the birthday phrase from Happy Birthday Gorgeous in black.

Come on, everybody – let’s do the TWIST!

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New Catalog, New Colors, New ME!

 

Last night I hosted an In Colors Introduction Stamp Class.  Any customer that joined my In Colors Club got admission for FREE; otherwise it was only $5.00 to attend.  In my opinion, our new In Colors can be challenging to work with, but they are a shot in the arm so to speak to breathe life into our color palette.

Here is one of the cards we made last night.

 

 

The Happy Birthday thinlet was EASY PEASY to release which made my customers super happy.  When you have a full class of stampers and need some accessories, this is a great card too because there isn’t one “right” color for the bow addition.  Love the mini circle dimensional on the back of the bows for easy adhering!

Every catalog changeover I reflect on what I want to work on for the year.  I am truly blessed by a wonderful group of stampers who attend my events.  I am EXTREMELY lucky to not want for customers (but I will gladly welcome you if you are interested!).

This year, I need to focus on branding myself and my blog and being CONSISTENT with posting.  I create all the time – I just don’t take the pretty pictures and talk about my creations.  I’ve been blogging for over 13 years – I know how to do it.  Just am juggling too many things and wearing too many hats in my corner of the world.

In this technological age, we want information fast, clean, and easy.  I am seriously considering a redesign of my blog which is scary and exciting at the same time.  I have loved this design and still do, but stampers are drawn to clean or at least not so busy backgrounds.  I may be chomping off too much, but blog overhaul is a goal I have for the summer.  Bear with me as I work through this process.

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Hip to be (not) Square Technique

I hosted my 100th Technique Tuesday stamp class in January.  That means my customers have learned THREE HUNDRED TECHNIQUES!!!  One of the techniques I taught I named the Hip to be (Not) Square technique.  In technique, I showed my customers how to extend the square Stitched Framelits into a rectangle.

I chose the Avant Garden stamp set for this card.  You can get this stamp set for free with a $50 order through March 31st.

Colors were Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, and Pear Pizzazz (one of my favorite color combos).  The silver ribbon is another Sale-A-Bration item.  I did put some Wink of Stella on the main focal image.

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Jeani’s Birthday Card

One of my coworkers celebrated a milestone birthday today.  She is  totally devoted to our school kids and is loved by all.  I created this special card for her day.

 

Lots of Big Shot items used on this card – Circles, Stars, and Large Number framelits and the Stars embossing folder.  The balloon punch and silver thread (sorry, not visible in this photo) were also used.  Our school colors are red and blue so that dictated my color combo.

Hope it was a fabulous day, Jeani!

You could easily change this up for an anniversary card, graduation card, retirement card, or even a sports team-themed card.

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