REPORTING IN

Hi Stampers,

Some of you have sent emails asking why I haven't posted for such a long time.  Here's a quick update: 
At Christmas time this year I was using products from my stash rather than current Stampin'Up! products, so didn't post. 
Then, I went on vacation and while on vacation, fell and broke my right arm.  It has been immobilized since that time and will be for another six weeks.  That has meant no stamping, or even writing, or typing with my right hand.
It is healing, though, so I expect to be back at the stamp table in early May.  Wow!  Do I have a lot of projects in mind that I want to do. 
Thanks for your well wishes and check back here in a couple of months.

Happy Stampin'!
Betty Vene

AUTUMN DAYS WREATHS

Now you see another another delightful way to use the foliage in the Autumn Days stamp set.  Stamping the wreath is quick and easy. Just punch a 1 3/8" circle for a mask to create the center of the wreath, adhere it to the center of Whisper White card stock with Dotto or another temporary adhesive and stamp your images. Remove the mask and there is room for a sentiment using Teeny Timy Wishes.  I've used this card this Autumn for Get Well, for Birthday, for a Thank You, and, of course, it is perfect for a Thanksgiving card. 

AUTUMN DAYS VASES

 

Autumn Days is a great stamp set.  It is so versatile that it will carry you through Autumn and Christmas with ease.  I'll be posting a number of cards using it.

This set of cards uses oval and circle punches for the vase and, except for sentiments, all the stamps are in the Autumn Days stamp set. 

Card stock and ink:  Whisper White, Naturals White, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Versamark
Punches:  1 3/8 " circle, large oval, Word Window, Phto Corner

In case your are wondering about the multicolored circle in the bottom card - that was an afterthought.  Tomorrow, I will show you Autumn wreath cards made with this set. The circle was the mask for the center of the wreath and when I finished using it, it was just too interesting to toss out. But, then, I don't toss out very much!

CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS

 

Here are two of the packages of Christmas gift tags that were sold at a Holiday Auction silent auction. Again, I've used retired products as well as current ones. The bells on the heading of the one on the left are from the wonderful stamp set Bells and Boughs in the current Holiday Mini Catalog. I used markers to color the stamp and then cut out the images to adhere to the heading. The bags are Stampin' Up! medium cello bags. The perfect size.  Each tag in that bag is different, some embossed, some beaded, some booklet form, some simple tags.  All of the tags in the bag on the right are punched from retired Designer Paper wtih the Ornament punch and the scallop circle punch.  If you don't have those punches, you should.  They are so  versatile, not just for punching Christmas tags.

Packaging the tags this way, the buyer will have a nice gift for a hostess or office Santa, or ....

I can't believe that it is nearing mid-November and this is the first Christmas stamping I've done this year. I'm still working on autumn and Thanksgiving. I'll show you a few more of these and then get busy on Christmas.  Hmmmm - wonder if I'll get my own cards made this year?

EXTREME SKATEBOARDER

Doesn't he look like he is having a great time?  No question that that my 11 year old grandson does.  In fact, his father built a half pipe in the driveway for him.  It's fun to watch him, especially when I wouldn't even be able to stand on a skateboard, much less perform on one.

The skateboarder here is stamped with the now retired Brilliant Blue ink; Night of Navy would work well.  Except for the Whisper White, all the cardstock is of retired colors, but there are plenty of wonderful new colors to create a stunning card for your favorite skateboarder. I used brads for the embellishment, thinking that an 11 year old boy who had a Fear Factor birthday party probably wouldn't appreciate ribbon!. 

PUNCHED PUMPKINS

Wow!  Has it really been so long since the last post?  I'll try to make up for it for I have been busy with many projects. Halloween and one Holiday Auction down and another Bazaar coming up. Many of my projects for those events are created from retired materials, so I've been hesitant to post them, but just may change my mind yet. Other projects are outright CASEing of some stampers who are so very talented. In some, I can credit the original creator and in others, I would if I had taken the necessary step to record the originator.  Ah well. Let's get started .

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Have you made your cards yet?  Punched pumpkins are so easy to do. Just punch out 3 or 5 cirecles or ovals, sponge the edges and assemble, keeping one full image for the top.  Here, I've used the branch from the 2 Step Bird Punch for the vine. I curled the stem around a pencil to give it some dimension.  You can see that the one on the left got crushed in the scanner, which is probably what will happen in the mail.  So, to mail it, it would be a good idea to glue it down.  I love the dimension, though. 

POPPIN' PASTELS

I've been playing around with my Stampin' Pastels this week and re-visited one of the old favorites - Poppin' Pastels. Vintage Vogue stamp set lends itself well to the technique.  Here, I've used a combination of current and retired colors.  Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink are current.  I have three packages of Sage Shadow, now retired, so I used it on the 6x6 technique page.  You may see more of it in the future - I do like that color and was sorry to see it go. The text for the technique page is copied from Margo Kelly's Technique Book.

Sorry the one bow got crushed in the scanner. I tried several times to lay it flat, and it just likes to pop up - and then gets crushed.  You get the idea.  It's pretty in real life.

Here's a tip -that I learned the hard way - as we learn many of ou tips - and you can see the problem on the technique page.

Tip:  When combining the die cut oval and the scallop frame from the  Big Z Scallop Oval Frame die:

The oval does fit perfectly inside the frame, but .....  glue down the oval first, if it needs to be straight, as this one should be.  Then, place the frame so that it is straight.  You see that I didn't do it that way on this page and the frame is slightly skewed in order to fit the oval.  Perhaps I'll do another one correctly for display.  And then again, I probably won't.  It'll just be a good teaching tool, don't you think?

Stay tuned. I'm going to play with the Stampin' Pastels some more in the next few days.