A really big deal!

I went to the Stampin' Up regional seminar yesterday in Louisville, Kentucky.
In addition to lots of fun goodies like yummy cupcakes and a few free goodies, I got lots of great ideas. I also came back with a super special big deal!
If you have ever thought about trying to earn a little extra cash for yourself or to pay for your hobbies, being a stampin up demonstrator offers a great opportunity for you! It's so much fun to do what you love, make your own schedule, and get paid for it!
Did you know that if you become a demonstrator today or tomorrow you can get $300 worth of Stampin' Up products, plus a free Big Shot (or $100 of product) and even a brand new stamp set from the upcoming spring mini catalogue?!?! Now that's what I call a big deal! Head on over to my website: http://valerie.durham.stampinup.net

A Hand-y little Halloween treat!

I found these Halloween gloves on Oriental Trading Company, so I couldn't resist a quick and easy treat for our students at church this year.  Well, mostly easy...just time consuming to make 48!

We put candy corn in the fingertips for the fingernails and put popcorn in the hand to fill it up with yummies!  That was it!  :)

Up, up, and away birthday card

My sweet hubby's birthday was this week, so I made his birthday card just in time....literally!  I got it made just in time for him to see it when he came home from refereeing a football game Tuesday!

I have this awful habit of making pretty cards and pretty things....so I decided to use my color coach to help me find a more manly color combo.  I decided on Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango, and Marina Mist.

To make this card, I found a scrap of this houndstooth DSP retired last year and used another few scraps of white paper.  I used my scallop edge punch to create a cloud template.  I sponged Marina Mist around that little template to make the cloud background.  Next, I made 3 different balloons with Tangerine Tango and added a little retired ribbon.  I punched out the sentiment with my 1 1/4" circle punch and I was done!  Easy and man friendly!  ;)

Stamps:  Up, up, and away

Ink:  Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango

Paper:  Early Espresso, Retired DSp, Whisper White

Accessories:  Retire ribbon, sponges, 1 1/4" circle punch

Salted and Blended Watercolor Background

I found a pretty interesting technique on Papercrafter's Library the other day.  It was called the salted and blended watercolor background.  I used that technique to create the following cards.  While I can't share the specific details of the technique (you can find the Papercrafter's Library link in the sidebar), it is a really fun and messy technique with a gorgeous result!

The above card uses the Tempting Turquoise and Night of Navy color combo for this card.  I added a few silver Serene Snowflakes and embossed them to make them pop.  You can see I also embossed the second layer of white on this card with the Northern Flurry embossing folder.  For this top card, I added a sentiment using Night of Navy. 

I made virtually the same card here.  I changed the color combo to Pool Party and Night of Navy, although you can't really see the navy.  You can really see, though where I embossed the watercolor paper with salt on this image.  It repels the water and leaves a little splotch of a spot!  I used the same sentiment and embossed the image in silver.  You can't see the snowflake quite as well in this image, though, so I think I may like the top color combo a little bit better.

Easy and elegant scrapbook page

In our club this year we are trying to work on a 6X6" scrapbook using the Chateau Bella paper for our inspiration.  So as you can see in this particular layout, I didn't actually use the DSP, I just used the colors as a guide for creating my page.  During club, some of the ladies added a few of their scallops with the DSP which also looked really pretty.

This page was super simple, but it created quite a nice finish and it was easy to add pictures to as well.  I barely even cut these 4X6" pictures down from their original size to add them here.

So here is a little bit closer of a look at the page on the right hand side.  The background piece is Soft Suede, so to make each page, I added two piecces of Marina Mist and one piece of Soft Suede paper that I cut out using my Tasteful Trims diecut.  Once they were cut I layered them and added some pearls at the top of each point.  I topped it all off with some Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon.

Paper:  Marina Mist, Soft Suede

Accessories:  Tasteful Trim diecut, basic pearls, Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon

Easy Canvas Prints

Recently I was contacted by Brendan Bailey, who works for Easy Canvas Prints.    I have always loved the look of pictures and art on canvas, but always dismissed it as too expensive.  I have a few canvas paintings, but I never thought about putting one of my pictures on canvas.  When Brendan asked me about trying out one of my pictures on canvas, I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to try putting one of our pictures on a canvas.  So, since we had purchased a Disney Photopass while on vacation, I decided to use one of my favorite pictures for the canvas.  

Here's what the original picture looks like:

To me, this is such a sweet, almost angelic picture of our daughter.  You can't even tell we are at DisneyWorld!  I love her sweet expression and the way the sun is glowing and reflecting off of her golden hair. 

So, this is what the actual canvas looks like (minus the tablecloth!):

You can see it is just perfect!  In fact, we just put up our fall decorations this week and I set in on an easel right in the center of all of our other decor.  It blends perfectly, but it makes such a gorgeous impact!

You can see some of our handmade pumpkins - including Halleigh's pumpkin from when she was in preschool - they make such a nice little frame around the picture. 

Here are just some side views and views from below. I love that you can create a mirrored image to wrap around the edge of the picture so you don't have to lose any part of your actual picture.  How clever! 

 I have been thrilled with my canvas and my entire ordering experience at Easy Canvas Prints.  If I had any regrets, it would only be that I didn't know how gorgeous it would be - I would have gotten a bigger canvas!  Easy Canvas Prints has some really great deals and there is lots of variety from which you can choose.  In fact, right now they are offering 25% off AND free shipping!  WOW!

  I personally think these great products are just perfect for that little holiday coming up....Christmas!  I have a feeling some of those grandparents out there would be delighted to have a canvas with all their babies on it!

Go on and check it out!

 

October newsletter

If you would like to view my October newsletter, please click here.

Boo-tiful thank you cards

Here's a darling card that I cased from Inking Idaho.  I made these cards to say thank you to a few of my customers recently.  They were so cute and simple to make!  I just cut out several Whisper White Top Notes and used some of last year's Halloween paper scraps for the bottom part.  I added some Always Artichoke ribbon across the middle and punched out some circles for the eyes.  I inked around the white edges with the charcoal distressing ink in the distress kit so they would stand out from the background.

That was it!  :)  So easy and cute!

Ink:  Charcoal distress ink

Paper:  Whisper Whtie, Basic Black, Retired DSP

Accessories:  Top Note die cut, always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon, 1 1/4" & 3/4" circle punches

Club scrapbook pages

 Here are the two scrapbook pages I made for our club meeting this past month.  Since our card was more intricate, I went with a pretty simple scheme for the two page layout.  I just used a 1" X 6" strip of Beau Chateau on the sides.  For the left page I added a piece from the Beau Chateau Side Notes and wrapped a little bit of Early Espresso baker's twine around it.  I had a pink pirouette heart leftover from another project, so I just added a few pearls to it.

The stamping was very simple - I just stamped the Creative Elements flourish a few times in Marina Mist.   I also stamped the butterfly from the Creative Elements stamp set in Pink Pirouette and cut it out.  I sponged around both pieces with Marina Mist and added a little bit of baker's twine and pearls to connect to two page elements.

So simple and pretty!

Stamps:  Creative elements

Ink:  Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Whisper Shite, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Beau Chateau DSP

Accessories:  Early Espresso Baker's twine, pearls, Beau Chateau Side Notes, Heart punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder



Swiped background card

Here is a recent card I made in my club.  It was full of lots of different techniques, so I will just try and reference where you can find them.  For the folded card technique, I found free video over at Kristina Werner's blog.  She's a reknowned card making blogger who has been published many times in scrappy and card magazines. 

I changed the punch from a butterfly to the modern label punch.  I also changed the design so it would utilize the lovely Spice Cake patterned paper and Pool Party ruffled ribbon.  I would suggest cutting each at the fold lines so that you can still easily close your card. 

For the final touch on top, I punched out 3 scallop circles.  I crumpled them up and pulled them apart at the seams so that you see the inside of the paper (this is the faux suede technique).  I spritzed them with Smooch Spritz for just a tiny bit of shimmer and poked a hole for a designer brad to go through.  I made sure that when I put my glue dot on, I only put the glue dot on one side of the back so that it is centered over the middle of the card, but only sticks to one side.

And here is what the inside of the card looks like.  I used the Day of Gratitude stamp set for the inside of the card.  I stamped the medallion in the corner in Soft Suede and the Thank You greeting in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla - I punched this out with the word window punch to make it stand out from the background. 

The background was made using a swiped background technique that I learned from Club 52 in the Papercrafter's Library (see the link in the sidebar).  I used Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, and River Rock for my swipes.  The best description I can give you for swiping is to just think of a wave in the ocean and swipe like a wave, going from your lightest color to your darkest color.  It creates a very dramatic background!

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude

Ink:   Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede and River Rock

Paper:  River Rock, Soft Suede, Spice Cake DSP

Accessories:  Word window, modern label, and scallop circle punches, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, Pool Party Designer Brad, Simply Scored scoreboard