White Gel Pen Tutorial and A Little Baby Love

So, I have ventured into the video tutorial arena again. Hopefully I have learned enough to make it better than my first attempts :)

You all my have noticed that I use the Signo white gel pens,  ALOT. I jokingly asked if I needed to do a seminar on them, and then was told "Yes, yes you do!"

So here goes!

I hope this video is helpful to you all, and what a learning experience! If I can make this process go faster, I may do more videos :)

Here is one of the cards you get a peek of in the video. I made 2 baby cards, one boy and one girl, for those times when I need one now! Lots of retiring stuff here, but I still love it all!

• Stamps: Fox & Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Occasional Quotes
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso
• Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Naturals White
• Other: Crumb Cake Corduroy button, Peach Parfait Polytwill ribbon, 1" Square punch, Signo White gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot with Perfect Details Texturz plate

And the girl version! Add a few punches, substitute the Basic Pearls for the ribbon and button , and Blushing Bride foe the Peach Parfait.

So, pull out those Signo white gel pens and give these tips a try!

SA Retiring Mega Hop- Autumn Splendor

Welcome to another fun hop! It is that time of year again, and we wanted to say goodbye to some very good friends of ours. This will also give you a chance to GET these goodies before they are gone for good :)


If you are following the hop in order, then you probably just came from Rhonda's Blog where she showed us the wonders of Inspired by Nature, another fabulous set.  If you get lost along the way, you can always refer to the master list on this thread, and hey, while your at it, leave us a comment on the thread! We always enjoy comments :)

I am featuring the Autumn Splendor set, which I LOVE and will never part with. I love leaves of any kind, and this set is just fantastic!

My first project for this set is this fun little frame for a slightly trimmed wallet sized photo. It would look really good with a "Dad" title and a picture of your dad, I just didn't have one handy when I made this. Instead we get my woodsy daughter :)

• Stamps: Autumn Splendor
• Ink: Old Olive, Early Espresso
• Paper: Naturals White
• Other: Big Shot with Labels Framelits, 1/8" punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Silver Mini Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

My second project is a gift tag. I used a blender pen to color in the leaves and trimmed one of them out to layer on the tag. The curvy mat is from the Peek-A-Boo Frames die.

• Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings, Woodgrain BG
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard
• Paper: Naturals White, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
• Other: Big Shot with Peek-A-Boo Frames die, Corner ROunder punch, Scallop Trim border punch, 1" Square punch, Signo white gel pen, sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Snips, White Baker's Twine, Blender Pen

Father's Day is coming and this is a perfect set for dads. Lots of clean lines and natural images, how can you go wrong?! I used the Best Dad Ever set also. I stamped strips of paper and lined them all up and I love how it turned out. I see a pattern here though. I think I have used Naturals White on every one of these projects! I guess it is because this stamp set really stamps nicely on this card stock. Love it!

• Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Best Dad Ever
• Ink: Always Artichoke,  Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Sahara Sand, Basic Black
• Paper: Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Naturals White
• Other: Neutrals black button, White Baker's Twine, Signo white gel pen, 1" square punch, Alwys Artichoke Denim ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Now, on to the rest of the Hop! Next up is Kim with Upsy Daisy

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Triple Treat in the House and Home

I was digging through my stash and found some precut bits I got in a grab bag from the Stampin' Up Clearance rack last year. I became determined to start making stuff with those bits. SO I had a white square to mat on a More Mustard square, hmmmm. It is spring, how do I make this work? So I started hunting for color combos. Now, I am about to share a secret source here.... I found it through Pinterest and I love the color combos on this site!

Isn't this gorgeous?! The site is Photo Card Boutique and has fantastic color combos. Very trendy.

The colors are brighter in real life, it is a rainy day as I am typing this so lighting was a bit of an issue, sorry. That is Baja Breeze, which matches the color in the inspiration photo, I promise! And this card definitely had a mind of its own, evolving as I went. It has a real feel of country charm to it, if a bit on the autumn side. Or rainy side, with the muted colors... And that lovely little sentiment tag, that covers on opportunity for embellishment, lol! I smeared the accent ink while drawing the white outline. And would have thought House and Home would coordinate so well with Triple Treat?!

• Stamps: Triple Treat, House & Home, It's Your Day
• Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight marker
• Paper: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Whisper White
• Other: Big Shot with Adorning Accents die and embossing folder and Festive Finishes Pick a Pattern Letterpress Plate, 5 Petal punch, Curly Label punch, 1/2" Circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Moonlight Smooch Accent Ink, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Wow, I didn't realize how many accessories I used until I typed it out! Crazy!

Here you can see that the flower petals are curled up just a little for more dimension.  Too bad it would get flattened in the mail. This is a 5x5 card. SU has envies that fit it :)

Inside has a few more flowers, and you can see a little better that I colored the centers with Daffodil Delight, then put a dot of the Moonlight Accent ink in the centers also. A little overkill? I think not!

Soaring Summer Smooches

Happy Monday everybody! Let's start this week out bright and cheery :) This card came about from leftovers from a page I made for a workshop. Did you know that the Summer Smooches DSP has lots of gender neutral patterns?! Love this! The workshop I did on Saturday was with a fun group of ladies who were doing a scrapping retreat, and one of the ladies only does cards. I had planned to do 12x12 pages as the Make and Take, but I had brought the makings for one card :) See how smart I am, by accident!

I just broke down and got the Send Me Soaring set, and I do not regret it! Love how easy it is to make fun boy cards. Or grown up cards, whatever. I wouldn't mind getting this card myself ;)

• Stamps: Send Me Soaring
• Ink: Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Naturals White, Summer Smooches DSP
• Other: Big Shot with Labels Framelits, 1-3/8" Square punch, Signo white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

And you thought smooches were just for girls, lol!

Season of Friendship-Step It Up swap

This is the last of MY contributions to this swap. I really want to do another swap like this with the new catty stuff! And the retiring list just came out for the current catty, and holy cow! We are going to have TONS of room for new stuff!! I am so excited! Sadly, this set is on the list, so hurry up and order it before it is gone!! We have until May 31 to order retiring sets.

Ok, so about these cards, lol! I just love how this turned out, lovely just as it is. Amazing how paper and ink alone can be so lovely. I did some generation stamping with the leaves, stamping twice without re-inking between. I love how the flowers drift off the main image piece off onto the card base and drift off the corner.

• Stamps: Season of Friendship
• Ink: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink
• Paper: Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Whisper White
• Other: Signo white gel pen, Designer Label punch

And with just a few extras, it brings this up a notch! A bit of embellishment and some dimensionals, and see what  difference that makes!

• Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon $5.95
• Pearls Basic Jewels  $4.95
• Moonlight Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink $4.95
• Stampin' Dimensionals $3.95

And all of the ink and paper are in the Getting Started collection! I really tried hard this time. The Color Coach helped a lot, it actually has suggested combos that are labeled Getting Started. Did you know that? I didn't until I was doing this swap!

Step It Up Swap #2- Nature's Nest

I can't wait to keep showing my swaps, so if you are participating in this swap, close your eyes! By the time I started designing my second set of swaps, I thought I should try to stick to the colors in the Getting Started collection. New stampers can get pretty overwhelmed and the Getting Started collection is a nice way to, well, get started! I stretched it a little with the Crumb Cake though.

This is the first version, good for a Make & Take.  Yes, I am still working on doing limited supplies... but when you have all kinds of stuff, it is really hard not to use it! I used punches, a background stamp, and the white gel pen. I somehow managed to NOT use the Big Shot here. That takes effort I tell you!
The main image is stamped on Naturals White in Early Espresso, I used a blender pen to blend the Early Espresso ink to color in the nest, then used the blender pen and Certainly Celery, Garden Green and Marina Mist ink to color the leaves and the eggs.

• Stamps: Nature's Nest, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain BG
• Ink: Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery, Garden Green
• Paper: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Naturals White
• Other: Wide Oval punch, Bird builder punch, 1" Square punch, Signo white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pen

The stepped-up version adds a Early Espresso card base, the use of the Simply Scored and the Big Shot, and a few other goodies.

• Additions: Big Sot with Designer Frames EF and Ovals die, Simply Scored tool, Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink

 I hope you can see the shimmer of the Accent Ink on the eggs and the leaves here. It was tough to capture on camera., but it adds such a wonderful effect on the card!

I have one more Step-It-Up to share with you in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

Create a Cupcake Step it Up Swap

This was a super fun swap. The concept is to make a card with minimal supplies that is super cute to use for a Make & Take at a workshop, then to make a stepped up version to demonstrate at said workshop to show customers how you can "Step it Up" with a couple of embellishments or a technique. Love this idea!
I signed up for 3 groups. This is one of them.

Here is the Make & Take version.  Cute right. I am totally in a dovetails/banners phase. Love them! This card is cute, simple, and fast.

• Stamps: Create a Cupcake
• Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
• Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Brights DSP pack
• Other: 1" circle punch, 1-3/8" square punch

 And this is the "stepped up" Demonstrate It version. I used the Cupcake builder punch to punch out the cupcake frosting images, popped the middle one up with a dimensional. Tied some Bakers Twine around the main image panel. I also added some Dazzling Details glitter glue to the sprinkles, and outlined the card base with a Signo white gel pen.
So the added elements are:

• Cupcake builder punch   $16.95
• Dazzling Details glitter glue  $2.50
• Early Espresso Baker's Twine  $2.95
• Stampin' Dimensionals  $3.95

Now, how fun  was that?! I think this kind of swap is a wonderful idea.

Birthday in Poppy

Now that we all have some of that yummy Everyday Enchantment paper and the Fresh Vintage SAB set, how about we PLAY with them :) This is actually from a workshop on March 31st. It is amazing what can pop up on short notice :)

Everyone had a great time making this card, even the first time stampers!

• Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Perfectly Penned
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade
• Paper: Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP
• Other: Fancy Flower punch, 1-1/4" Circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Scallop Trim border punch, Corner Rounder punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Signo white gel pen

I have to say, it was really fun to do a workshop again! It has been about 3 years, and that is much too long. I have been doing just my monthly Stamp Club for too long, time to expand my fun! Anybody want to have a workshop? :)