Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

Ever hit a wall when you are trying to come up with a card design? I know I do! I was cleaning out all of my old swap cards, getting ready for the new catalog which starts TOMORROW (!!) and I was thinking that while they use stamps and paper that are no longer available, the basic layout and design of the cards are still good. Heck, most of them are great! So I started using My Digital Studio to sketch them out. As I worked on it (for hours) I realized that other people might be interested in this too! So I put all of the sketches together in a handy dandy PDF. It is 27 pages long, and contains 51 sketches, because there is an extra one on the title page. If you are interested in purchasing the PDF, it is $5. All you have to do is click the PayPal “Buy Now” button and I’ll send the PDF out to you as soon as I get your email.

Let this book of sketches spark your inspiration! Containing 50 sketches, plus a bonus one on the title page, it is sure to get your creative juices flowing. The sketches are clean, elegant, and easy to read. All are done in shades of gray, so as not to influence your color choices. Please let me know if you have any questions.

***IMPORTANT! Tomorrow, June 30th, is the last day of the 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up Idea Book & Catalog and the last day to order anything from the Last Chance Lists!***

Do you remember the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper? I loved that beautiful paper! well guess what? It’s back in digital form! Which means you can use as much as you want and it never runs out! More paper and some other great downloads are in this week’s batch. These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files. You can see a PDF of all of these downloads here. The PDF gives you more detailed information about the downloads, including colors used and templates included.

127162 Sending Comfort Greeting Comfort Designer Template $1.95

127176 Rasberry Tart Digital Designer Series Paper $4.95

The twelve delicious paper patterns of paisley, flower, and flourishes will add the perfect pop to any project. Download also includes a one-page 8-1/2″ x 11″ designer template. Coordinating colors include Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Rose Red.

127168 Timeless Type Junior Letters & Numbers Punch $9.95

Customize the letters and numbers for limitless designs with our 65-piece Timeless Type Junior Letters & Numbers punch; add your favorite card stock, Designer Series Paper, or even photos to these punches. Like all My Digital Studio punches, these are vector files, which allows them to be scaled up or down without losing image resolution.

124585 From the Kitchen Stamp Brush Set $5.95

124582 Thoroughly Modern Digital Designer Series Paper $4.95

Add a bright, trendy accent or background to any project with these 12 Designer Series Paper patterns. Coordinating colors include Bermuda Bay, Rose Red, Sahara Sand, and Soft Suede.

124583 Just Perfect Alphabet Upper Stamp Brush Set $7.95

Looking for the perfect uppercase alphabet for your personalized project? What can we say–this 26-piece set is for you! Coordinates with Just Perfect Alphabet Lower and Just Perfect Numbers Stamp Brush Sets.

124584 Just Perfect Numbers Stamp Brush Set $7.95

124476 Aviary Digital Stamp Brush Set $5.95

124473 Inspired by Nature Digital Stamp Brush Set $1.95

125172 Baroque Digital Stamp Brush $1.95

You can purchase these or any other digital downloads through my online store. They great news is that they are available for immediate use, with no shipping charges! Just click on Digital Crafting, then Digital Downloads, then Newest Downloads to see all of the recent additions! If you registered your copy of My Digital Studio, you may also receive end-of-the month emails from Stampin’ Up featuring that month’s digital releases.

There is a My Digital Studio tab to the top right hand corner of this blog. It is a handy reference to a variety of My Digital Studio resources, including a list of all of the downloads and a break down of the printing costs. There is also a new Resources pageon MyDigitalStudio.net that includes an MDS Catalog. It shows all of the MDS software artwork (contained in the boxed-version) and downloads from the October 2009 launch through May 2011! The catalog gives a snapshot of the entire product line with artwork thumbnails followed by product details, which includes the colors of the designer papers! Because MDS is regularly coming out with new artwork, the catalog will be updated every month.

We have some more fabulous Fourth of July colors from ColourQ this week. Check these out:

I was feeling nostalgic, and went all the way back to 2003 and Eve’s first 4th of July for these pictures. I was going to use the Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper (digital version), but I realized that it was Not Quite Navy instead of Night of Navy.

I try to put things on an angle once in a while. It’s hard, but I do like how it looks. Hope you’ll play along with us at ColourQ this week!

Another Father’s Day card to show you today. This one I made for my dad. As before, it can easily be used for any occassion simply by switching out the sentiment. It’s a gate fold card, and uses the retiring Newsprint Designer Series Paper. That will be gone after Thursday! (Though the very similar First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper will still be available.)

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: VersaMark
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Newsprint Designer Series Paper
Other: Black Embossing Powder

I heat embossed the tree and the words to add an extra touch of elegance to the card. Since the base of the card is black, I put a piece of Very Vanilla on the inside as well.

I am about to head out to my last Stampin’ Up workshop for this calendar year. While I’m sad to see this catalog and many of the great products in it retire on Thursday, I am super excited about the new catalog! One of the cards we are making at the workshop uses a new technique that I tried and love! It uses Stampin’ Write Markers and Blender Pens to watercolor in your image. There is a great tutorial over on the Stamping 411 blog.

Stamps: Sunny Fun
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Poppy Parade, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake
Paper: Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper, Designer Series Paper Stacks (In Colors, Brights, Subtles)
Other: Blender Pens, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

It’s a really fun technique! Let me know if you try it! And don’t forget to order any retiring items by June 30th!

My adorable nephew Leo is one year old today! It seems like just a few weeks ago that my brother was texting me updates on his birth! In addition to the super cute lion card that I made for him back in April, I wanted to make him something else as well. When I saw these handy tips for making an ABC swatchbook on the My Digital Studio website, I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to make! The swatchbook is one of the newer photobook options in My Digital Studio. It is 13  3.25″ x 5.5″ cards, double sided, and held together with a post so that the pages can swing out. If you have seen the new Stampin’ Up color coach, it is similar in design. It also comes with a plastic pice covering the front and back. This is what the finished project looked like:

And here it is with a few of the pages open:

Since it is hard to see the actual pages from these photos, here are the first few for your enjoyment:

I want to give a big thank you to Stacey, my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law, for helping out with pictures! I couldn’t have done it without her!

The Baby Wipe Technique is one of my favorites — it is super easy to do, and yields fantastic results! Your results are limited only by the colors of reinkers that you have.

Supplies needed:

• Stamp that has a solid image (as opposed to a line art image that can be colored in)
• Classic Reinkers in at least two colors
• A clean, fresh baby wipe
• A tray or plate to put the baby wipe on

Fold your baby wipe into quarters and place it on the tray.

Add several drops of each of the colors of reinker to the baby. You are basically creating your own ink pad. I used Daffodil Delight and Real Red to create the same look as the gummy worms that I wanted to use on the card.

Use this newly created ink pad to ink up your stamp, then stamp on your card stock. If you use colors that are very different, like I did with yellow and red, you may want to clean off your stamp each time before inking it up.

After you finish creating your piece, finish your card as usual. Below is my completed project.

Stamps: Bugs & Kisses
Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Large Tag Punch, Extra-Large Tag Punch, Sweet Treat Cup, Real Red 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon

Remember, this adorable Bugs & Kisses stamp set will be discontinued after June 30th, as will ALL of the 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon.

I’d love to see your creations with this technique! Be sure to leave me a comment if you make something!

There’s a really fun color challenge from ColourQ this week — just in time for the 4th of July!

Since Brilliant Blue is retired, I substituted Pacific Point. I combined this challenge with the Pals Paper Arts “Stars” challenge, and did some emboss resist with the Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel. Unfortunately, this wheel was on the Retiring list and has already sold out.

Stamps: Word Play, Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel
Ink: VersaMark, Pacific Point, Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise, Bashful Blue
Paper: Pacific Point, Poppy Parade, Whisper White
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Poppy Parade Poly Ribbon, I 3/4″ Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

See the mat around the Wish Big circle? I made that by punching it with the scallop circle punch twice. After you punch it the first time, use a Post-it note to make a handle, and out it back in your punch again. But this time offset it so the points punch in the middle of each scallop. It’s an easy way to get a different look out of your punch.

While I realize that Father’s Day is behind us now, I have a few more Father’s Day cards to share with you. All of these are easily adaptable to any type of masculine card you may need, just by swapping out the sentiment. That’s one thing I love about Teeny Tiny Wishes — all of the phrases fit in the Word Window punch for easy customization of any card! This is the card I made for my father-in-law, who is an avid golfer.

Stamps: On the Green, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Garden Green, Basic Black
Paper: Garden Green, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Big Shot

Remember, this fabulous golfing stamp will not be available to purchase after June 30th. And there are no new golf stamps in the new catalog, so get it while you can!

One of the great things about My Digital Studio, is that nothing ever retires! As proof of that, there are some new downloads today featuring one of  last year’s In Colors, Bermuda Bay. Plus there’s a super cool looking half circle punch.  These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files. You can see a PDF of all of these downloads here. The PDF gives you more detailed information about the downloads, including colors used and templates included.

127172 Autumn Elements Stamp Brush Set $5.95

124579 Notebook II Designer Series Paper $4.95

The twelve geometric patterns in our Notebook II Designer Series Paper make just the right subtle background to a page, card, or calendar. Use the paper patterns with the Messenger II Embellishments and Stamp Brush Set for perfect coordination. Recolored from our popular retired Notebook Designer Series Paper. Coordinating colors include Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, and Very Vanilla.

124578 Messenger II Embellishments $3.95

Our Messenger II Embellishments are a complete package; its 27 pieces deliver trendy postal flair to any project. Use with our Notebook II Designer Series Paper and Messenger II Stamp Brush Set for ultimate coordination. Includes a one-page 8″ x 8″ designer template. Coordinating colors include Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Bermuda Bay, and Very Vanilla.

127174 Messenger II Stamp Brush Set $7.95

Keep it all together (and cute, while you’re at it) with our Messenger II Stamp Brush Set! The notes, labels, and accents in the 17-piece set will work wonders with “get organized” projects, or as accents on photobooks or other projects. Sized perfectly for use on Avery labels. Use with our Notebook II Designer Series Paper and Messenger II Embellishments for ultimate coordination.

124580 Take Note Stamp Brush Set $7.95

Packed with clocks, rulers, clever barcodes, “to do” accents, and more, this 43-piece stamp brush set gives versatility perfect for photobook pages, cards, or any project! Based on our popular retired Take Note Rub-Ons.

127164 Half Circle Punch $0.95

Add this staple shape to your digital design tools—you’ll use it on all types of projects! Like all My Digital Studio punches, this is a vector file, which allows it to be scaled up or down without losing image resolution.

127169 Bulletin Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Brush Set $7.95

124581 Anchored Stamp Brush Set $7.95

This versatile and extensive 79-piece stamp brush set gives you tons of options for accents, borders, and sentiments; it’s perfect for photobook pages, cards, or any project! Based on our popular retired Anchored Rub-Ons.

You can purchase these or any other digital downloads through my online store. They great news is that they are available for immediate use, with no shipping charges! Just click on Digital Crafting, then Digital Downloads, then Newest Downloads to see all of the recent additions! If you registered your copy of My Digital Studio, you may also receive end-of-the month emails from Stampin’ Up featuring that month’s digital releases.

There is a My Digital Studio tab to the top right hand corner of this blog. It is a handy reference to a variety of My Digital Studio resources, including a list of all of the downloads and a break down of the printing costs. There is also a new Resources pageon MyDigitalStudio.net that includes an MDS Catalog. It shows all of the MDS software artwork (contained in the boxed-version) and downloads from the October 2009 launch through May 2011! The catalog gives a snapshot of the entire product line with artwork thumbnails followed by product details, which includes the colors of the designer papers! Because MDS is regularly coming out with new artwork, the catalog will be updated every month.