Inspired by Hawaii



Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

 Many of you may already know this, but in case you didn't......I was very blessed to have the opportunity recently to spend the entire month of January in Hawaii with my family  and it was wonderful.  We got to see and do so many amazing things with the bonus of not having to live through the freezing weather back home!  Since my return home I've been in love with creating cards about the ocean!  I've actually always loved the ocean, but I found that it's way more fun in Hawaii than in Oregon....hummm go figure!  Anyway, over the next several posts I'm going to share with you some of these "ocean" inspired creations.  This first card was actually created some time ago, but I never go around to posting it.  Can you figure out how I made the jelly fish?  No, it's not some kind of fancy hand cutting (I'm not that crazy!) and it's not a pre-made shape....so have you figured it out yet?  It's the lid piece from the Cannery Set Framelits!  Yes, you have to think outside the box on this one, but isn't cool!  Add a little shading*, some ruffled ribbon* and little "water" and you've got an amazing card.

Products used:
Stamp set: Pursuit of Happiness (pg. 140)
Card stock: Pool Party, Whisper White and Perfect Plum
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pool Party and Basic Black
Extras: Corner rounder punch, Cannery Framelits with Big Shot, Taffeta ribbon and Fancy Fan Embossing folder.

* Shading Note:  For the background piece I used a wavy template and a sponge with ink to create the look of waves.  I then spritzed it with water to create the "bubbles" on the paper.  When you add water over an ink area, the water will remove some of the ink and create spots.  For the jelly fish I used an oval punched piece of paper as a mask and sponged ink in toward the center to create a 3-D effect.
* Ruffled Ribbon note:  I took a wide piece of white taffeta ribbon split it into stripes and then VERY CAREFULLY heat the ribbon with my heat tool.  The heat caused the ribbon to curl, but if you're not careful the ribbon will burn.

Have a great day!
Smiles,
Stacey

March 2013 Stamp Camp Projects

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Based on idea by Heather Summers
Copyright Stampin'Up!

It's time already to start thinking about the March Stamp Camp!  We will be making three cards and two

3-D projects.  When I first made the "Bee" card all I could think about was making a matching bee hive.  So I whipped out my Petal Cone die and went to work....I think the end result turned out pretty darn cute!  For the owls projects it was the other way around.  The little candy pocket came first (thank you Becky Roberts!) and then I thought it would be fun to create a matching card using the same paper and some of the fun Sale-a-bration products.  The Birthday card was inspired by Heather Summers and I just love the way it turned out and I can't wait for you to see the inside.  Have you ever received a card that was done up so pretty on the outside only to open the card to find a plain inside?  Well, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've decided to step it up.  No more plain insides!  Every card from now on will have some thing that makes it look more complete on the inside.  Next we'll have to work on the envelopes!

Stamp Camp Date:  Friday, March 15, 2013

Time: 6:30-10:00 pm

Cost: $16.00  (Free with a $50 placed during the month of March)

Registration Due Date:  March 11, 2013

Email me: Stampinpad@msn.com

I would love to have you attend stamp camp.  Please give me a call today.

Smiles,

Stacey

Wax Resist Technique Again!

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

I couldn't resist to show you another example the wax paper resist technique.  This time I simply crumpled up the wax paper before ironing to my gloss white paper.  I sponged with three different colors of ink to color the white areas of the paper, then used I used black Stazon ink to stamp the image.  I didn't want the background papers to compete with this image so I just spritzed and sponged them with a little ink.  If you haven't tried this technique yet, you really should....it's so much fun!

Products used to create this card:
Stamp set: Serene Silhouettes (pg. 75) Loving Thoughts (greeting pg. 136)
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Early Espresso and Gloss White
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Early Espresso and Black Stazon
Extras: 1/8"  Early Espresso ribbon, gold brads, heat tool with gold embossing powder and Modern Label punch.

Smiles,
Stacey

Wax Paper Resist

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

Here is another example of the Wax Paper Resist technique.  I used a different color scheme for this card, but the same stamp sets as in the last post, but for this card I chose to use a lighter ink color over wax paper resist piece of paper.  As you can see it gives a whole different effect, less bold and much more soft....maybe a little bit more"sky" looking?   Can you see a different pattern on this background verses the background on the last card in the last post?  Do what to know how I did it?  Come to the February Stamp Camp and I'll show you or you can google "wax paper resist", but that won't be as much fun!

Smiles,
Stacey

February 2013 Stamp Camp Projects

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

Here are the first three projects that we will be making at stamp camp this month.  I like to make cards with different shapes, but that still fit into a standard envelope....so I came up with this!  What do you think?  I really like the way the "circle" theme is carried through all the projects, plus it really give you the effect of the pinwheel turning.  There isn't a close up picture of the magent, because the glass wouldn't phopgraph well, but I can tell you that the magnet is pretty cool looking and it's about 1 3/4" round.

Products used:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Island Indigo and Pool Party
Stamp Set: Wishes Your Way in the new Spring catalog
Ink: Tangerine Tango
Designer Series Paper: Sycamore Street
Big Shot with 3", 3 1/2" circle dies, the NEW Pinwheel sizzlet and the Polka-a-dot embossing folder
Extra: Sale-a-bration Island Indigo ribbon, gold brad small flower punch.

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

Being as I spend the entire month of January in Hawaii, I've fallen in love with all the stamps that have anything to do with the beach and ocean.  We met so many wonderful people in the condo where we were staying that I wanted to make them a special card and when I saw a version of this card in the Internet, I knew I had to make it......I now you will too!

Products used:
Stamp Set: By the Tide
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pool Party and Early Espresso.
Ink: Pool Party, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Calypso Coral
Big Shot with Fancy Fan emboss folder and Tangerine Tango ribbon from Sale-a-bration.

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!

This last project features a technique called Wax Paper Resist.  It's a fun technique that is pretty simple to do and it creates an amazing look.  Depending on the color you choose to use to ink up the paper, this technique will give you either a soft or a bold effect.  The other cool thing is that once you get started making these great backgrounds, you'll see more and more possibilities.

Products used:
Stamp sets: Fell Good and Papillon Potpourri
Cardstock: Gloss White, Perfect Plum, Whisper White and Elegant Eggplant.
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum and Baja Breeze
Big Shot with Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Butterfly punch, Basic Pearls and Paper Doilies.

Hope you like all the stamp camp projects and if you like to come to camp on Friday night the 22nd of February, please contact me right away!

Smiles,
Stacey

Can You Bottle Love?

I made this card a few months ago to show that just because you think a stamp set looks like one thing it can't be another thing. Sometimes we can't see beyond the pictures in the catalog or the images in the stamp set, but this card proves that it can be done. It's hard to see in the picture (it's true my picture taking skills still haven't improved), but the jar is die cut out of vanilla paper and then the center of the jar was cut out.  I then cut a second jar from a clear window sheet to place behind the first jar.  The hearts were placed on the card and the jar was popped up over them.  This really gives the look of a canning jar with hearts in it.

Created by Stacey Cogswell/Copyright Stampin'Up!

Card Ingredients:

Stamp sets: Perfectly Preserved and Seasonal Saying (Both of these sets are still available, check the last page of the Spring mini catalog)
Paper: Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler
DSP: From Holiday mini paper pack,but any paper could be used.
Ink: Black and Cherry Cobbler for greeting and Black Stazon for jar.
Accessories: Big Shot with Cannery Set Framelits, Small Heart punch, Baker's Twine, black brad, piercer and a clear sheet.

Smiles,
Stacey