Sale-a-bration 2015 workshop cards

 

Happy Saturday! Hope you all are doing well! I'm sure glad it's the weekend and so happy I was able to do a Sale-a-bration workshop today for my friend Kaye.  We created the fun cards above and got to use some SAB and Occasions catalog goodies. It was a great time!  One thing though that I realized after the fact is that the Butterflies Thinlits are currently not available for order. Boo.  Fingers crossed though that they will be available again very soon, now that the port strike is over. I will keep you posted, but I am being cautiously optimistic. Let's keep it at that til I know more. :)

Now, here's a close up look at these beautiful butterfly thinlits...

 

Aren't they so pretty? I posted this pic on my instagram (@stampdiehler for those of you that want to check it out).  Hope to get some definitive good news this coming week!

I can't believe we're at the end of March already. Time sure does fly when you're super busy! I have a lot of things I would love to catch you guys up on, so I'm hoping to put out a few recap posts of the latest-goings-on-in-my-neck-of-the-woods soon. It's all good, just so busy - like frenetic pace busy! I'm hoping I get a chance to catch my breath and embrace and enjoy Easter week with the family. 

Thanks to you all for coming by and paying me a visit! 

Here's a quick list of the goodies I used in my SAB cards:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Irresistable matchbook mints tutorial!

I'm back with the quick and easy tutorial for the Matchbook Mints.  Super simple! For the matchbook covers, I used one sheet of the Irresistably Yours DSP which I just LOVE! The pack comes all white, but by using the "resist" technique, you'll see that the prints resist the ink colors and create beautiful background papers.  Here's a look:

So first, let me start off by saying I cut the 12x12 sheet into two 4 1/2" x 12" pieces, and one 3" x 12" piece. The pic above shows 2 of the 3 pieces.  I sponged the DSP and really love how these 2 panels turned out!  Now here's a look at the 3 colors - Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, and Strawberry Slush -  cut into the 4 1/2" x 1 1/2" strips for the matchbox covers. Score each of these strips at 2", then you'll see there's a half inch that you fold over.  This is the flap that you'll staple with your mint in place.

Now for the 3 simple ingredients:

1) Mints, 2) cardstock, 3) stapler.

And finally, you need to put your mints in something right?  Here's my fave berry basket with the pom moms. Viola! Cute mints in a giftable or cute put-on-your-desk-at-work container, ready for displaying and giving.

For a quick summary of the steps, here's a little cheat sheet for you:

And, last but not least - here's a list of supplies for your quick reference!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thanks for popping by!  Hope you have fun making these. Would love for you to leave me a comment and share so I can visit your blogs!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

This Week's Stampin'Up! Weekly Deals for {Feb 24} + NEW Sale-a-bration items!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Hi blog friends! It's Tuesday, so I wanted to share this week's Weekly Deals that are available from Feb 24-Mar 2.  So many cute things for spring!

I also wanted to share that there are NEW items that will be available to earn for Sale-a-bration starting March 1!

Aren't these so cute?!  If you're interested in hosting a party at your home, or if you want to be the hostess of a virtual stamp party, send me an email and I'll be happy to schedule something for you! As always, you can check out my online store at any time. Just visit here!

Have a great day!

Highlights from Stampin'Up! Leadership 2015

Hi all! Boy was this year's Stampin'Up! Leadership conference a whirlwind! I totally intended to blog onsite, but I had some technical difficulties with my computer (slow wi-fi) and also didn't get a chance to download and transfer all my pics from my camera and iPhone to my computer, that I'm just now getting around to doing it!  Pictured above is the roommate gift I made for my dear roomie, Norma. I used goodies from the Sale-a-bration and Occasions catalogs to decorate this cute mini printer tray. 

If you're on Instagram, you can check out my quick posts @stampdiehler as well, but I've put together some highlights for you here as well...

It's always exciting to get into the spirit of things upon arrival when you see Stampin'Up! on the convention center signs!

Here's this year's Leadership bag.  I love that it says "Best. Day.Ever." What a fun sentiment.  Makes you want to make the most of each day. :)

Here's a peek at one of many great ideas we got at leadership - this little envelope treat holds a cookie.  Now, how cute is this packaging! Between the classes we attended and the samples on display, I've become rejuvenated with a ton of projects that I can't wait to try out!

Oh, and of course, we got our fair share of giveaways. Here's lucky Louise with her prize patrol giveaway.  Have to say I was a teenie bit jealous for not winning this fun bundle!

We also got to play in the "Product Playground." Tons of fun.  They had the bouquet kit on display and while I had ordered the kit for myself, I hadn't put it together yet, so it was awesome to see first hand how simple it was to put the flowers together! I made the blue flower in the bottom right. Didn't that come out so pretty?!

The Paper Pumpkin area was a lot of fun. We got a sneak peek of the upcoming kits and they don't disappoint. You will definitely be delighted!  In case you're not familiar, Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription where you get a new craft project, complete with all the supplies needed, delivered to your door.  Sound appealing?  You can check out more info about Paper Pumpkin here. 

In typical Stampin'Up! style {thanks, SU!}, we had several all-group giveaways at Leadership, so no one gets left out! Here, Michelle and Norma proudly display the pack of the Birthday Bash DSP we received. How yummy is that!

Here's a look at the rest of us! Norma, me, Louise and Terry, among all the other demonstrators at the session. Fun times!

Thanks for popping by today! I'll be posting more fun ideas for Sale-a-bration and the Occasions catalog, so come and visit soon! Toodles for now!

Mini coffee cups decked out in Sale-a-bration!

Hey there, blog friends! I've got a fun share today. I've had these mini coffee cups for quite a while now and can you believe I had not gotten around to creating anything with them yet?  Well, I finally decided it was time to bring them out and decorate them in the finest of 2015 Sale-a-bration DSPs! And, I think they turned out pretty cute, don't you? ;)

So, I can't take credit for the mini coffee cup pattern - I actually got that from Jill Coleman's blog.  I also ordered these 4 oz coffee cups from the webstaurantstore.com. I used the pattern Jill created, though I did have to tweak a little and trim a teenie bit off the bottom after I adhered the DSP to the cups.  The pattern definitely makes it easy peasy to dress up the cute plain little cups. {Thanks, Jill!}

What I did create was the carrier, which is actually, just a reboot of the carrier I created for the milk cartons on this post, with the only difference being the measurements.  Are you ready?:

You'll need:

*2 pieces of 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" cardstock  for the carrier base

*1 piece of 5 1/2" x 2 3/8" cardstock for the center handle

1. Score the 2 pieces of cardstock at 1" all the way around.  Then cut to the 1" scoreline at the creases along the 3 3/4" edge.  

2. Assemble the base and glue together using the Tombow Multi-Purpose glue.  Set aside to dry.

3. For the 5 1/2" x 2 3/8" piece of cardstock, punch the handle using the hexagonl punch.

4.  Assemble the carrier by placing the handle in between the 2 base boxes and gluing together using the Tombow Glue.  

5.  Embellish the carrier with DSP or cardstock.  I used  2 pieces of 3/4" x 7 1/8" DSP to decorate the base.  Score the pieces at 4 3/8", and then 6 5/8".  for the handle, I cut out 2 pieces of 2 1/8" x 5 1/4" DSP and adhered one piece at a time and punched the handle after adhering each one to the base handle piece, otherwise it gets too hard to punch!

And here's another look at the whole Mini Coffee Cup and Carrier ensemble:

Ta da! I would love to hear what you think!  Not only is this project really fun to make, these little cuties would make great teacher gifts or co-worker gifts for Valentine's day! I definitely encourage you to give it a whirl.

Thanks for popping over to visit.  Enjoy your day!

Hearts and butterflies birthday card

Hi there, blog friends. I have finally gotten some time to stamp and play a bit more with my new Occasions and Sale-a-bration goodies!  Though, I have a confession to make. I was going through a bit of creativity block trying to come up with a card design. Do you ever get that feeling of having so many ideas in your mind that you don't know where to begin?  Top that off with being a little rusty from not crafting as frequently as I'd like to and that's exactly how I felt. I had a lot of stops and starts before I was finally able to design a card that I was excited about!

This is not a typical color palette for me, but one of my influences for this navy and reddish-pink {Night of Navy and Rose Red, to be exact} combo was because I've had France on the brain. I wanted to pay respects to the French in my own little way for the recent tragedies they experienced. So, this is where the inspiration came for the card, and I'm really pleased with how it came out.

The Butterflies Thinlits dies are so pretty, that I had lots of fun die cutting a bunch out of different colored cardstock to see how they looked!  (This diversion definitely helped in getting my creative juices flowing!) Despite their very intricate appearance of the die, these thinlits are really easy to work with.  The main tip here about die cutting with this amount of image detail is to use a layer of wax paper between the cardstock and the die and the die will easily peel right off! Now, let's take a look at the background, shall we? I love the look of those dots. I basically double stamped the dots to get the lighter shading of Rose Red.

Here's a closer look:

I love that one of the symbolic meanings of the butterfly is that it represents "new life." It makes me happy to create cards keeping that in mind :)  I'll defnitely get a lot of use for these thinlits!

Here's a list of the supplies I used for your reference.  Note that the items shown as $0.00 are Sale-a-bration items, which means that you can earn the item for free with a $50 purchase. Not bad, huh?  You can take a peek and shop at my online store if you'd like. You can also click on any of the items below to get to the store, too  :)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thanks for popping by today. Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year! It's time for Sale-a-bration!

Hi there blog friends! Happy New Year to you!  Hope you all had a great holiday with your friends and family. It was a busy time here at the home front, but it was nice we got to spend some quality time with my brother's family who was visiting from Alabama and we also got to do a road trip to San Luis Obispo to visit my hub's sister and family.  So, as you can imagine, the days pretty much just whirled by and here we are!

I'm exited to announce that today kicks of Stampin'Up!'s Sale-a-bration catalog, which is an awesome way to start the year!  From January 6 thru March 31, 2015, you can earn free products in the Sale-a-bration catalog with every $50 purchase. 

Today also marks the start of the new Stampin'Up! Occasions catalog, which is AMAZING as always this year. You will definitely not be disappointed! So, the pairing of these two catties is just a heavenly way to get your crafting started for 2015. You can do your shopping and earn free stuff! Woot woot!

To whet your appetite, how about video so you can take a look at one of the stamp sets you can earn!

Thanks for visiting today.  Have a great one! 

Outdoor photo shoot!

Happy weekend blog friends! Today is such a beautiful day in Southern California that I decided to do an outdoor photo shoot of my cards. :)  These are the cards from a stamp party I did last weekend.  Simple, quick, and so easy peasy!

For this Make a Wish card, I used the Happenings Simply Created card kit for the card base and then created my tag with Scallop Tag Topper Punch. This card comes together really quick with just a couple of embellies to add a touch of pizzazz.

For the Happy Birthday card, I used the super cute Banner punch, and then added a small strip of Pool Party card stock that I embossed using the Decorative Dots embossing folder - both of which are products you can earn for free during Sale-a-bration {going on now til March 31st!}! Hope you like the the cards.

Last but not least, here's a pic of my cute little helper! He's growing up so fast and starting to talk up a storm.  We had a great time in the backyard today.  Note - no cards were harmed in this photo shoot. :)

Thanks for stopping in!  Have a great weekend.

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: #5 - Stamped Banner Window Card!

Hi blog friends!  Welcome to {Tech Tip Tuesday}!  This week, I'm sharing the technique of stamping on a window sheet using StazOn ink. I started off with a trifold card base, which I created from a 12x12 sheet of Core'dinations paper.  I also got to use my Perfect Pennants Clear Mount Bundle (which includes the Banner Framelits and the Perfect Pennants clear mount stamp set - an excellent combo!). Are you ready to check it out?  Let's get started, shall we?

1. Cut out a 5 1/2" x12" piece of card stock and score the 12" side at 3 1/2" and 7 3/4".

2. Use the Big Shot to die cut the 2nd largest banner framelit on the 4 1/4"x5 1/2" panel of your trifold card.

3.  Cut a 3" x 5" piece of window sheet and adhere on the inside of the card using glue dots along the edges.

4. Stamp the "Make a wish" sentiment {from the Perfect Pennants stamp set} to the front of the card using white StazOn ink.

5.  Die cut the largest banner framelit using a sheet from the Sweet Sorbet DSP.  Next, die cut the 3rd largest banner framelit using a scrap of Pool Party Core'dinations paper.  Then lastly, die cut the 2nd smallest Labels framelit in Basic Black card stock.  Assemble these layers on the 3 1/2"x 5 1/2" panel of your trifold.  Tip: line up the Sweet Sorbet DSP banner piece along the inner edge of the card panel. This will make all the banners align with your front banner window.

6.  Embellish the front of the card. I used the Banner punch from the Sale-a-bration catalog and the Itty Bitty Shapes flower. I added the Pearl Basics to the flower centers to give my flowers that fun dimension.  Viola - you're done!

Here's a couple more views of the card for you.

Here's the card recipe:

{Make a Wish Banner Window Card}
Stamp Set: Perfect Pennants
Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party Core'dinations card stock, Sweet Sorbet DSP, Basic Black
Inks: White StazOn ink
Accessories: Banner and Labels Collection Framelits, Banner Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punches, Window Sheets, Glue Dots

Product Recommendations for this project - click on the images to check them out on my online store!:

Now, it's your turn to give this technique a whirl! I'd love to see your creations. Thanks for stopping in today.  Have a great one!

Happy Birthday {Greeting}

Happy Monday, dear blog friends! Did you have a good weekend?  It was pretty chilly and drizzly here in Southern CA, so I was happy to have a mellow, quiet weekend to just relax, catch up a bit and hang out with my boys.

For today's share, I've got a birthday card I created last week for a dear friend, Sandy Hancock.  Her birthday was last Friday and I wanted to make her a special card, since she is such a Stampin'Up! inspiration for me.  I hope she liked it! It was so fun to make with goodies from the Sale-a-bration and Occasions catalogs.  I was also really excited to finally get to play with the Core'dination card stock, too. After embossing the Pool Party card stock with the Chevron Embossing folder, I sanded the paper  to bring out the white core and give it that weathered and faded look.  It's such a cool effect! Here's a look at the full card:

I used the See Ya Later stamp set from the Sale-a-bration catalog. It's a super cute set that comes with four clever sentiments.  And, how about the pretty Sweet Sorbet DSP? The colors and patterns are so happy and fresh - they're the perfect palette for spring.  Wait til you see them all.  You'll love it! I know I can't get enough. These colors really do put me in my happy place!  Last but not least, I added just a wee bit of embellishment with the sweet Petite Petals punch and a touch of twine.  Whaddaya think? Here's the card recipe for you.

Happy Birthday {Greeting}
Cardstock: Subtles Core'dination cardstock in Pool Party, Sweet Sorbet DSP {Sale-a-bration}
Stamp Set: See Ya Later {Sale-a-bration}
Inks: Calypso Coral Classic Ink Pad
Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Banners Framelits, Deco Labels Framelits, Labels Framelits, Petite Petals Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes flower punch, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Crisp Cantaloupe twine from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack {Sale-a-bration}, sanding block

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for coming by. I'm so glad you stopped in for a visit! :)

Little banner with {love}

Hi all!  Happy Friday!  Just popping in with a quick post.  Here's a fun Valentine card I created with the super cute Banner punch and Decorative Dots embossing folder from Sale-a-bration catty.  The "love" sentiment is the Expressions Thinlits die from the Holiday Catalog.  Such a fun and easy card!  Hope you have a great Friday! 

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: #3 - Stamping on Muslin bags

Hi there blog friends!  Welcome to another week of {Tech Tip Tuesday}!  This week, I'm gonna share how easy it is to stamp on Muslin using Stampin'Up!'s Photopolymer stamps.  Aren't the bags above so cute?  I have to admit that I had to get over my own fears of stamping on Muslin - i.e. "Will the image come out ok?" or "Are the inks going to look dark enough?"  among other musings of mine that were preventing me from experimenting on these fun little bags sooner.  I'm pleased to share that it's really super easy to stamp on the bags and get a nice image.  Are you ready to get started?  I've got 4 easy steps for you.

1. To get started, here are the items I used: Muslin bag, Stampin'Up! Classic Ink pads in Smokey Slate and Daffodil Delight, Eye-catching Ikat Photopolymer Stamp Set, Acrylic Block.

2. For this Ikat pattern, I used 2 stamps from the Eye-Catching Ikat stamp set - the 2 diamond shaped stamps.  Place the 2 stamps on your acrylic block to create your repeating pattern.  Stamp the first row in Smokey Slate.  The beauty of the photopolymer stamp sets are that you can see the exact placement on the acrylic block and the actual stamped image on your Muslin bag.  Tip - be sure you evenly ink the stamps to ensure your full image stamps onto the Muslin.  Press the acrylic block firmly onto the bag and be sure not to rock the block back and forth for a clear and crisp image. 

3. Continue making your pattern and clean your stamps between colors. For the second row, I used Daffodil Delight.  You can stamp as many rows as you'd like to continue and repeat your pattern on the bag. For this sample, I create 3 rows.

4.  The finished bag!  As you can see, creating a pattern is a snap with the photopolymer stamps!

Here's a closer look at the trio of bags I stamped {notice the use of my rosette embellishments? - SOO fun!}:

For the rosette embellishment, I doubled up and used 2 flower dies rolled together to create a bigger bloom.

I just love this Ikat pattern and color palette! This pretty polka dot rosette was created using the Polka Dot Parade DSP.

For this stamped patter, I did a two-step stamp technique to create the yellow sunflowers.  Then, I topped it off with a happy orange felt rosette.  These Muslin bags are perfectly sized for cute little goodies or trinkets.  Hope you're inspired to create your own little gift bags. :)

Here are the supplies I used:

{Muslin Bag Trio}
Stamps: Eye-catching Ikat Photopolymer stamps
Inks: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Pumplin Pie, Smokey Slate Classic Stampin'Up! Ink Pads
Accessories: Spiral Flower Originals Die, Mini Metallic Clothespins, Smokey Slate Chevron Ribbon, Secret Garden Framelits, Muslin Bags, Polka Dot Parade DSP 

Product recommendations for this project:

You can check these products out on my online store here.  And, don't forget - Sale-a-bration starts today!  So, what that means is, for every $50 you spend, you can choose Free product from the Sale-a-bration catalog.  Woot woot :)

Happy stamping and thanks for visiting!

Sale-A-Bration 2014 is HERE!

Hi there blog friends!  Sale-A-Bration 2014 is HERE!  It's Stampin'Up!'s annual promotion where you can earn Free product with every $50 order.

To kick off this promotion, I'm excited to host my very first Virtual Workshop!  Now, you're probably wondering, what's a virtual workshop?  Well, it's where you all can participate and submit online orders by entering this special code in the promotions section at checkout: EMS7CAYP.  
This workshop will run until Friday, Jan 31st and any orders submitted for $50 or more will be entered into a raffle to win the Banner Blast punch from the Sale-a-bration catalog!  I'll announce the winner on Sat, Feb 1st!

Here's a peek at one of the adorable card kits you can earn for free with a $50 order - the Go for Gold card kit:

This super cute kit comes with all the supplies to create 8 cards - complete with envelopes and embellishments!  Here's a closer look:

If you happen to be local to the South Bay/Los Angeles in Southern CA, I am also having a LIVE workshop this Saturday, Feb 1st!  If you're interested, please email me here and I'll be sure to send you all the deets!