Very Vintage

I absolutely love Vintage stuff. I don't know why, maybe it's because it seems like a time where life was a lot simpler. Architecture and art really looked like something recognizable. It could also be that I love it more now because Stampin' Up! came out with some new vintage stamps that are to die for.

Here's some of my favorite new cards using our new Vintage Vogue stamp set.

For the first card I stamped very vanilla craft ink onto kraft card stock using the Bella Toile background stamp. Next I made a border using a piece of real red card stock that i punched with the Scallop trim border punch, from the new Sale-a-bration catalog. I then mounted a strip of Sending love DSP(Designer Series Paper) onto the border punched strip. To finish off this edge I mounted the border strip to very very vanilla card stock and used the paper piercing tool to create the stitched looking border.

For the flowers I stamped each one onto very vanilla card stock using the flower from the Vintage Vogue stamp set. I cut out each flower, curled up the petals and pushed pretty in pink corduroy buttons into the centers. I then spritzed each flower with tinted shimmer mist, front and back. Each flower was placed onto a leaf branch punched from the extra large 2 step bird punch.

The greeting comes from the new Well Scripted stamp set and was stamped in real red classic ink onto very vanilla card stock and punched it out using the wide oval punch. To create the scalloped border around the wide oval punch I punched 3 scalloped oval punches and cut them strategically to create this larger border shape.

For the second card I cut off about 1 from off the end kraft card stock and then used the scallop trim border punch to create the border. Then I took a 2" piece of whisper white card stock and punched it to also create a border that would fit underneath the border on the kraft card stock. Next I used whisper white craft ink to stamp the flower bouquet from the Messages for Mom stamp set. The F (friends) image is from Vintage Vogue also and I stamped that in Bermuda Bay onto Whisper White card stock. I then mounted that onto Soft Suede card stock and then again mounted that piece onto Bermuda Bay card stock. I stamped Vintage Vogue flowers onto Whisper white card stock and cut each flower out. Like the first card I pushed in clear rhinestone brads into the center of each of these flowers. They were also spritzed with shimmer mist. These flowers were mounted onto Soft Suede branches instead of green ones.

To finish it off I tied Bermuda Bay polka dot grosgrain ribbon.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week.

Everything's coming up babies.

We have several friends who are having babies over the next few months. I thought it would be nice to get a head start on the baby cards now so I don't forget to do them. We also have another friend who just recently found out they were pregnant, it's a little too early to

tell what they're having but I needed to have some ideas as to what could be done for cards/invitations since I plan to help out with the baby shower.

One of our friends is having a baby boy and I thought I just adore our new Fox and Friends stamp set. I decided to use the whale stamp for this one and decided to use the masking technique to sponge the ocean on the bottom and the sunny sky on the top. I also used our new Scallop Trim Border punch. Our new punches are still high quality like our old punches are and one really nice feature about them is that they lock shut so they sit flat when storing them.

Another thing I'm fond of doing right now is using shimmer mist. It's a combination of either rubbing alcohol and our shimmer paint or water with shimmer paint. This technique involves spritzing your paper with the mixture to create a shimmery look to the paper itself.

You can either use the spritz plain with only the paint and your choice of thinner, both methods have their pros and cons to them. You can also add drops of re-inker to your spritz bottle

to create a colorized spritz. The orange mat to the card was actually done by mixing both crushed curry and pumpkin pie re-inker to the spritz to get the color desired.

For this card I used whisper white cardstock, I used finial press to emboss the orange spritzed background. I also used bordering blue cardstock for the mat and bordering blue craft ink for the whale and greeting. My bordering blue classic ink pad wasn't in on time when I was creating this. The ribbon is whisper white satin ribbon. I'm so glad we came out with new satin ribbon colors with this new mini catalog. I love this ribbon.

Now another of our friends is having a baby girl. I was messing around and playing with colors. These all seem to go together well. I also tried my hand at the paper lace technique. I'd seen a sample of this technique done on my upline's blog. Kimberly is not only an upline but she's also a great friend and she always inspires me to do more with my business. The lace is created by using the eyelet border punch. Then it's run through the paper crimper to make the pleated folds easier to do. Next you randomly fold and pleat the paper till you get the desired look. I like to use a 1 - 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" to punch the border out from. This allows for just enough pleat and it you can still fold it under 1/4" on either end to get a more finished look to the lace. I used s strip of sticky strip on the underside of the paper I adhered the lace to. Other people who I've seen do it will run sticky strip along the edge of the lace itself to hold the pleats in place that way and then will attach it to the paper. I don't think there is a right or wrong way. I just did it my way because it seemed most logical.

With this card I also used the Fox and Friends stamp set as well. There are 7 animals total including a monkey that is absolutely adorable. For the border i used so saffron and rich razzleberry cardstock. I love kraft cardstock so I thought I would use that for the background of this card. For the aged look of the lace I prefer to use creamy caramel classic ink on a sponge.

I tend to hoard things, especially accessories like buttons and brads. I challenged myself to use up these accessories that I buy so I decided to use a button from button latte. I just love the neutral colors that come in this set.

Well I need to get ready for bed. I'm coming down with a cold and I want to get better quickly. I'm going to my first Stampin' Up! event in Fort Collins in a little over 2 weeks and I want to take a bunch of swaps with me to the event so I can swap with other demonstrators and get more ideas for things to do.

I will try to upload more samples tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

It's time to Sale-a-brate!

Yes it's that time of year again.

Through the end of March it's Sale-a-bration. During this time of the year Stampin' Up offers incentives to their hostesses and also their workshop customers. For every $50 you spend in product, before tax and shipping, you receive an additional stamp set from the Sale-a-bration catalog. This year not only can you choose from the sets in this special catalog, but you may also choose a stamp set from the 2009-2010 catalog as well.

Sale-a-bration coincides with our new Spring Mini catalog as well, many of the products found in this catalog may or may not be available for purchase after the catalog ending period. This catalog will run through the end of April.

Now is the time to take advantage of this wonderful offer, as well as try out some of the newest products that we have to offer.

Contact me to book a private class with you and your friends or visit my website samanthamalchow.stampinup.net to see all the great offers available.