January Stamp of the Month and Studio J special...

If you are a Studio J member or have been thinking of trying Studio J then January is the Month for you. During the Month of January for every 9 layouts you purchase, you get 1 FREE!

The stamp of the month this month is a great set called "Little Reminder". I finished up the projects shown in the idea book for my good friend and upline Shannon last night. I am hoping to play with this one a bit more tomorrow. No time to craft today. Sadness.....

Don't forget that you can get the Rock The Block bundle for $15 with any $25 purchase from the Fall/Winter idea book. This can be combined with the SOTM special too. That is a savings of nearly $42 between the two!

Technique Tuesday - week #1

Drum Roll Please.......... As you know, one of my 2012 resolutions is to update the blog each and every day. I have decided to take it a step further and name Tuesday as Technique day. Every Tuesday I will try and show how to do something fun with your ink and paper.

Today is all about Masking. This is a very simple technique that is very effective. Masking is simply the process of covering either part of the stamp or part of the paper you are stamping on so only part of the image ends up on your artwork.

I am not very good at explaining, so hopefully the pictures help.

Step 1.
Stamp the image on a post it note, then trim around. I like to stamp it toward the top so I end up with post it adhesive on the image. Stick the trimmed image on your project where you want a "blank spot" the shape of the trimmed image.

Step 2.
Stamp the contrasting image over and around the trimmed image. Here I chose trees stamped in Gray Wool for a winter scene. Don't worry, it looks messy at this point.

Step 3.
Remove the "post it" note image.

Step 4.
Stamp the image you stamped on the post it note in the area that you masked off.

As you can see in yesterday's post, I chose to color the adorable little deer to really make him pop off the cardstock.

Here is a look at the complete Bundled Buddies set (C1472)

Brrr.... It's cold outside

Well it looks like Winter has arrived in Michigan. After hearing the wind and snow blow all night, I was very thankful I didn't have to get up and head out to work this morning.

Since winter is in the air, I thought another card with the Winter Wonderland papers was appropriate.

If you are not familiar with masking, it is a great technique to add dimension to your projects. I will show how to do this in tomorrow's post. Super easy and very effective!

The design was inspired form the Simple Expression sketch from Wishes.
Products used:
Wishes
Bundled Buddies stamp set
Wonderland level 2 paper
Black ink
Gray wool ink
Copics (Rose Mist, Pale Pink, Agate, Dk.Gray, Light Caramel, and Cashmere)
Blue buttons
and yarn from Big lots (only $1 for a skein)

A New Year!

Happy New Year! What are your resolutions for the new year? I thought up a couple. The first is to update my blog every single day in 2012. That means I have exactly 5 minutes to post this update or I have already failed. I am determined to keep this resolution. Here goes.........

A Winter Wonderland card using the Snowflakes set again. This card was inspired by one I ran across online, unfortunately I cannot find where I seen the original idea. If you happen to know who it is, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

One minute! I hope I made it!

Rock The Block

Rock the Block
December–January Constant Campaign

When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you can get two valuable new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). This Rock the Block promotion represents a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, fashionable fun!

Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Well, it looks like this tree wins the prize! We always have a real tree and this year is no exception.  Emily says it is good just the way it is, no trimming needed.  We love us a good scragly tree and that we have. 

Snowflake card

Here is a fun little card using one of the card bases from the AP Cricut cartridge. For the base I used Wonderland paper and stamped the cut snowflakes with the Snowflakes set. A quick easy card perfect for a special friend on my list this Holiday season!

I sized the card to fit in a CD envelope. I love that you can see the card front through the window and CD envelopes are very inexpensive at the local office supply store.