Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

Whoo-hoo! This week’s Stampin’ Up Deal of the Week is Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware! Normally $29.95, this week only $18.99! I have it in silver, and love it. I can’t wait to get the Vanilla.

Stampin’ Up’s high-quality metal Hodgepodge Hardware contains etched designs on brads and accents that coordinates with several of our punches. Each kit contains approximately 100 embellishments and 100 3/16″ brads.

Offer good through July 27, 9:50 AM (MT). Shop now or contact me or to order today!

I finally had a chance to do the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge! It was like a breath of fresh air to do a card as clean and simple as this!

I decided to use my brand new D is for Dog stamp set. Now, I may be partial since I have a lab, but I think this dog is so cute!! I love this new set, and I think it will go fabulously with the Man’s Best Friend set (currently on the dormant list). Here is what I came up with:

Stamps: D is for Dog
Ink: So Saffron, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Paper: So Saffron, Real Red, Whisper White

It has been a long time since I made a card without any ribbon, or punches, or anything other than just stamps, ink, and paper. I am really pleased with how this came out!

In May, I listed the reasons why I love being a Stampin’ Up Demonstrator.  I’ve also written about how much I love the new in-colors. I am excited to tell you that Stampin’ has combined these two loves of mine into a fabulous opportunity for you! An In-Color sign up special!

From July 15 – August 31, you can become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator for only $85!

The special, limited-time Mini Starter Kit contains many of the items you need to get started in your new business, including

• For All You Do stamp set
• In Color Classic Stampin’ Pads (6)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)
• In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)
• Business forms and tools

Or if you want to buy the standard $199 Starter Kit, in addition to the supplies listed below, you’ll get all six of the new In Color Classic Stampin’ Pads and one pack of In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)–a $43 value! The standard Starter Kit includes

• Five stamp sets
• A Stampin’ Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge
• Stampin’ Pastels
• Card stock
• Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool
• Five Classic Stampin’ Pads
• VersaMark Pad
• Stampin’ Scrub and Mist
• Blender pens
• SNAIL
• Business forms and tools

These special offers–the Mini Starter Kit and the In Color add-on to the standard Starter Kit–are only available for a limited time, so you must act fast!

Benefits of Becoming a Demonstrator
Whether you just love to stamp, or you want to grow a successful, thriving business, the Stampin’ Up! opportunity is the right fit for you. Stampin’ Up! demonstrators enjoy many benefits, with just a few listed below:

• Product discount. Demonstrators get a 20 percent discount on all Stampin’ Up! products, including stamp sets, paper, and accessories. It’s a great way to support your love of stamping and paper crafting.
• Extra income. You’ll earn extra income based on your sales and recruiting–how much extra income is up to you. Maybe you just want enough income to pay the electric bill every month, or maybe your goal is bigger–the monthly payment for your new car–it’s your decision! See the Compensation Table for more information.
• Flexible schedule. This is your business, so you can put in as much (or as little) time as you’d like.
• Support from Stampin’ Up! We love our demonstrators and it shows through our demonstrator support materials, including a monthly magazine, workshop ideas, and audio and video trainings on all kinds of topics available on our Demonstrator Web Site.

You can sign up online, right through my website, just click Join Now at the top. You’ll need my password, which is SUwithYapha. If you have any questions about becoming a demonstrator, or anything else, feel free to get in touch.

To learn more about Stampin’ Up and the demonstrator opportunity, you may want to watch the Introduction to Stampin’ Up video. Signing up was one of the best decisions I ever made!

Here is another card that I did with Flight of the Butterfly. See the cool tie-dye effect on the butterflies? This is done with the Baby Wipe Technique that I taught at my reinker class last week. (Re-inkers are the little bottles of ink that you buy to freshen up your stamp pad.) For this technique, you squeeze a few drops of different colored reinkers on to a folded baby wipe in order to make yourself a custom ink pad. For this card I used only two — Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo. You could use three or four different colors if you chose.

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Reinkers, Baby Wipes

This was a very easy technique to do, with a gorgeous result! Have I mentioned how much I love this color combo? Yummy!

Hip hip hooray! Stampin’ Up has just released a Butterfly Punch that matches the butterflies in the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set! So of course I just had to use it for Kristina Werner’s color challenge tonight. This week’s colors are:

I decided to keep the card pretty clean and simple, so that you can really focus on the butterflies popping off the card. Here is a side view:

I just folded the wings up to give them some dimension. Here is what it looks like from the front:

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue
Paper: Ruby Red, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: Butterfly Punch (new!)

The saying I used on it really means a lot to me right now — If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies. Very important to keep that in mind!

Whoo-hoo! This week’s Stampin’ Up Deal of the Week is Square Fire Rhinestone brads! Normally $10.95, this week only $6.99! Brads are a fun addition to any project, and these Rhinestone brads add extra fun and sparkle. Rhinestone brads coordinate with Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive colors, so there’s no need to guess about what colors to use your brads with.

■ Square brads: Approximately 80 per package (4 colors in 2 sizes)
■ Fire assortment (Pink, Red, Pumpkin, and Yellow) coordinates with Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive colors

Offer good through July 20, 9:50 AM (MT). Shop now or contact me or to order today!

I have a super easy card to show you today, and the best part is that it is as gorgeous as it is easy to make! I got the idea from these beautiful cards on Gretchen Barron’s blog. These feature what may be my very favorite of the new In-Colors, Melon Mambo. One important thing to note is that the directions on the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions embossing folder incorrectly state that it should be run through the Big Shot using Tab 2 on the multipurpose platform. You need to use Tab 1 on the multipurpose platform with this folder. If you use Tab 2, your sandwich will be too thick to run through the Big Shot.

Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Melon Mambo, Vellum Card Stock
Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions embossing folder, Big Shot

The trick with using vellum is to find a way to hide the adhesive. I used a strip of SNAIL down the left side of the vellum. It is hidden underneath the ribbon. We made this beautiful card at my last workshop at Paula’s house. Everyone loved the simple elegance, and they were all amazed at how quick and easy it was to make!

Eve was a very sad six-year-old last weekend. The strap broke on her absolutely favorite sandals in the whole world. They were white and covered in tiny rhinestones. It was sparkly awesomeness as only a six-year-old can adore. We looked for replacement sandals, but none of the white sandals were sparkly at any of the stores we went to. It was a sad, sad day. We found a pair of cute white ones with flowers, and Eve in her brilliance said, “Mom, can’t you put some Dazzling Diamonds on these to make them sparkly?” And I thought, why yes, yes I can!

Stampin’ Up to the rescue again! I put Crystal Effects in the center of each flower, and also around the outside of the biggest flower (also Eve’s idea), and liberally poured on the Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Wow! It worked beautifully!

Thank goodness I had my Stampin’ Up supplies! You just never know when they are going to come in handy!

I love coffee and I love this new Melon Mambo color! So what could be better than combining the two? I was over at Sandi’s house and used this super cute set, Font of You. Wait, you say, that set isn’t in the catalog. True! But it is still available! It is on the dormant list. You can find it in the online store, but not in the catalog. You can see the dormant list at the end of this post.

Stamps: Font of You
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Here is the dormant list. All of these sets and wheels are still available to purchase.

Stamps

Wheels

Hmmm… Well, I’m not sure what happened as I tried to do this week’s Mojo Monday sketch.

First of all, it is Tuesday. Maybe that is part of the problem. I don’t know, but no matter how hard I tried I could not follow the sketch exactly. I left off one of the bars, which is probably why I had to move the circle (or oval, in this case) from the bottom of the rectangle to the top. I am pleased with how the card turned out, though. I borrowed the color scheme from the new Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Old Olive, Orchid Opulance, Rich Razzleberry (Stampin’ Write Markers)
Paper: Old Olive, Orchid Opulance, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Texturz Background #1, 1/4″ Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon

Have I mentioned how much I am loving these In Color Stampin’ Write Markers? They are awesome!