Snowflake Serenade Glittery Photo card

I am trying to come up with some easy cards to make for folks who want handmade cards, but do not want  to invest in stamps and such to make them.  They would simply get prestamped supplies for 20 cards from me that they would assemble themselves at a fair price.  Here is one possible contender.  I created this idea in my head, and as always, the actual execution of the idea is not always what you think it will be.  I know a lot of people send out photo cards as Christmas cards.  I want to offer that idea to people who want to add a homemade elegance to their cards.  So here is my first attempt at a photo card.  I love the Papertreyink set Snowflake Serenade.  It is so pretty and elegant.  I stamped the snowflakes on vellum and then glittered them up with heat and stick powder and dazzling diamonds glitter.  Not too bad.  The card is very pretty and sparkly without being messy.  I used thin vellum paper, but I think the vellum cardstock that Papertrey just introduced would work better.  I used our Blue Bayou and Soft sky for the card.  If I offered this as a kit, I would be limited to how many I could make since the colors won't be available to order more paper for this color scheme after Aug. 10.  

Details:

4x 11 card base in blue bayou scored at 8 3/4

soft sky 4 x 2  1/2 torn, and 5 3/4 x 3 3/4 for photo mat inside

vellum 4 x 8 1/2

white craft, soft sky and blue bayou inks

heat and stick powder, glitter, 2 way glue, silver cord

fits in a standard long business envelope

New In Colors are in my hands... an update

Hi, Everyone.  The excitement over the new Fall/Winter catalog and idea book from Stampin' UP! is building.  One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to preorder a select offering of catalog preview items, including some of the new hostess sets.  This year we could order the new In Colors in a bundle at a good bit of savings off the price of buying all the single packs of paper, ink pads and refills separately.  Woo hoo!  I did this and am pretty happy with the results.  We could also preorder the new scallop border punch that is so fabulous.  Now we can make all those wonderful scallop edges on long strips of paper or on the bottom borders of our cards, etc. without the tedious lining up of a corner rounder or slit punch.  Yea!  I am so into that.  I also ordered the new level 2 hostess stamp set called Deer Friends (has Christmas images in circles with cute sayings kind of like last year's halloween set boo to you).  Stay tuned for some cute little notes with that.  Totally cute with the scallop circle punch for quick and easy tags and cards.

Now about the In Colors:  Don't bother with buying the Riding Hood red, it is so close to Ruby Red.  It is only a one shade darker color than ruby red which is visible in the ink colors only.  The paper colors are practically identical.  It's a rather redundant color kind of like Purely Pomegranite was just a bit more dark and bright as compared to Rose Red.  

Tangarine tango is very  nice.  Not as bright orange as Only Orange, but more orange than Pumpkin pie.  Very very pretty.  Think more of a spanish sort of orange.

Kiwi Kiss is very pretty.  Not as bright as a lime green.  Sort of like a cross between Old Olive and Certainly celery.  It goes very well with the Papertrey ink color Spring moss (it's a tad darker but goes awesome with the prints pack with that color in it).  Their ribbons would be a good match for a monochromatic look.

I totally love both the Baja Breeze and the Pacific Point colors. The Pacific Point is so pretty.   So much better than brilliant blue.  It is a cross between true blue and not quite navy, but more vivid.  It's hard to describe.  I like it so much better than the darker blues in the past two In Color offerings.  Definitely not a denim color.

  Baja Breeze is a tad more gray in blue and a shade darker than Soft sky.

Pink pirouette is so much softer than Pretty in Pink.  Kind of like Blush blossom but more pink. The ink proves to be not as pale as you would think by the paper.  More blush blossom in the pink than pretty in pink, but a very nice color.    Goes soooo well with the riding hood red or ruby red, but especially with Rose Red or Purely Pomegranite.  This color also  matches pretty closely the Papertrey ink patterned paper with their Sweet Blush color.  You could probably match their ribbons very closely to this color.

Also all the colors pair pretty well with this years In Colors.  Tangerine and Groovy guava are good matches.  Kiwi and Wasabi for a nice contrast, Baja breeze and soft sky, and River rock goes with all of them.  I just love River rock.  Just thought you might want to know to stock up now before this year's colors go out.  

There will be ribbons to match (some stripes like the striped grosgrain) and a button bouquet with the kiwi, pink, red, and baja colors.  Different sizes, and some embossed flower prints on them and more shiny or glossy than the regular buttons.  

So we'll see what comes our way in a few short weeks with the rest of the catalog.  

This year the Holiday mini will cover Halloween through Easter sets.  Orders start from that in October and go through the end of December I think.  They have shifted that around this year with the later catalog release dates.  

I'll be back with more posts later on this week and next week as I have some Holiday projects to share.  Have a great summery day!

Father's Day cards

Here are the Father's Day cards I made for the men in my family's life.  I used Papertreyink's Pond life and Father Knows Best sets.  Love them both for great masculine cards.  You gotta get these.  I used all Stampin' UP! papers and inks.

Decor Elements: New Stampin' UP! product line

Stampin' UP! announced yesterday to demonstrators a new product line released today. It is called Decor Elements, which are a new line of vinyl wall elements that coordinated with our stamps. These are large wall decorations that will add interest and instant decoration to your walls, picture frames, mirros, glass doors, or pretty much anything you might want to put them on. They will be available for sale to customers on July 1st. They are pretty and I think you will find creative uses for them all over the house. Click on Decor Elements and find the brochure. I think this will be a great product, and I am already thinking about where I might be able to add some of these elements in my new home.

Stampin' UP! Retiring List is Up.

Here is the retiring list for Stampin' UP!'s Spring/Summer Occasions catalog and Idea book.  

Check out all the stamps that are retiring.  Not too many surprises for me, but maybe they will be to you.  Don't hesitate to email me with orders so you can get what you just have to have before they are GONE!!!

Back with more later.

Melissa

New Stampin' UP! news: 2008-09 In Colors

Here is a tiny sneak peak at the descriptions of the new 2008-09 In Colors: 

Kiwi Kiss- a pretty bright lime green color sure to pair well with lots of other colors.  Strawberry-kiwi color combos anyone?

Tangarine Tango- a fiery, Spanish sunset orange color

Pink Pirouette-soft pretty pastel pink, think pink ballet slippers

Riding Hood Red- a true daring red

Pacific point-a stunning sapphire blue

Baja breeze-- a soothing blue sort of a cross between soft sky and cool caribbean if you will from what I can see.

Just a reminder:  don't forget to stock up on this year's InColors before August 9th.  They will be all gone after that.  Like the gorgeous groovy guave, soft sky, river rock, and purely pomegranite.  If you bought any Designer papers with these colors in them you need to check to make sure you have solid cardstock to go with them for cards or other projects.  Don't forget the coordinating ribbons.  Time is running out.  Plan your next month and a half's purchases to include these items.  

Don't go away, as I will be posting several projects in the next week that I have been working on.  I made some wedding gifts, some cards for friends, and hopefully I 'll get my Father's day cards done.  

Oh, and check out Papertrey's release this month on the 15th.  Some ultra cool things there too.  I love the new boards and beams set, as well as the grid lines set.  And they now have vanilla cardstock which is like SU! only much much thicker.  Very sturdy for card bases and such.

See you soon.