Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

There’ a really fun sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week — I like that it has two stripes across the page instead of the usual one.

This gave me a chance to play with some of the new goodies from the Occasions Mini catalog. I love, love, love these new Framelits! I hope they come out with lots of other shapes as well. I also used the new Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details. It is easy to use and adds just the perfect amount of bling.

Stamps: Beary Best Friends
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede
Paper: Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, 2010 In Colors Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack
Other: Labels Collection Framelits, Cherry Cobbler Dotted Scalloped Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I colored the bear with reinkers and my aquapainter. The envelope is stamped on Blushing Bride card stock, then cut out and popped up on a Stampin’ Dimensional.

I loved the Stampin’ Addicts Sketch Challenge 115 so much, I had to make a second card using it! This was for one of Eve’s teachers who is having a baby boy.

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Inks: StazOn Jet Black, Soft Suede, Pool Party
Papers: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Perfect Pennants Bigz Die, 1 3/4 Circle Punch, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon

I can see myself using this sketch a lot. Thanks so much, Paula!

Take a look at this fabulous sketch that Paula put up over at the Stampin’ Addicts’ sketch challenge last week. Isn’t it great?

My friend and downline Samantha is starting a new teaching job, in her own classroom at another school. I wanted to make her a card to wish her the best. They sure are lucky to have her! This sketch was just perfect for what I wanted to do! I rotated it 90° so it would fit the bear. The dress is paper-pieced, the rest is colored with ink and an aqua painter.

Stamps: Beary Best Friends, Season of Hugs
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper
Other: 3/4″ Circle Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, Designer Label Punch, Aqua Painter, Paper Snips

Do you see what looks like note book paper in the background? It’s actually a sheet from the Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper Pack! How fun is that? Only a few more days to get in on the Buy 3 Get 1 Free Designer Series Paper sale!

I was so excited to find an Israeli paper crafting challenge, that I had to do it right away! It is called שלוש בשלישי or Tuesday Trio. This week they had a sketch challenge, plus an additional challenge of using dots.  I combined this with Color Throwdown #131 and the SUO Challenge of using something from Sale-a-Bration.

I looked through my different Sale-a-Bration products, and came back to the Bear Hugs set that I had featured for the Stampin’ Addicts Blog Hop. This is one of the sets from the main catalog that you can earn for free during Sale-a-Bration. I had to add Crumb Cake for the bear. I tried to color him in Pink Pirouette, and it just looked horrid! Here’s what I came up with:

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Big Shot

I love this stamp set, and these are perfect baby bear colors!

Welcome to the first stop on the Second Annual  Stampin’ Addicts Birthday Blog Hop! (If you just came from Holly K’s blog, don’t worry, we will link you around in a complete circle.) Each of the stops is featuring a different stamping technique. I am excited to show you that old favorite, the shaving cream technique! This technique uses reinkers swirled into shaving cream to create an interesting image. You must use glossy paper, or it looks like a big mess. Be sure to come back on Monday for a video of the technique if you are unfamiliar with it.

Most of the time, the shaving cream technique is used to create card backgrounds. On this first card, I did just that. To add more interest, I used the faux shaving cream technique on the whale image, by smearing a wheel on the stamp itself. Doesn’t the shaving cream piece remind you of water? It is great for ocean-themed cards!

Stamps: Fox & Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Cupcake Wheel
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Glossy White, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Whisper White

For my second card, I again used the shaving cream piece as the background, but I also made two coordinating pieces which I used to create the cupcake. The shaving cream design can lend a lot of spice to punch art.

Stamps: Something to Celebrate (hostess)
Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Paper: Glossy White, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Other: Build a Cupcake Punch, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Paper Piercer

As I was creating these images, I was struck by how much they looked like tie-dye. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be fun to use this to create a tie-dye T-shirt for the Build-a-Bear? What better card for your favorite Dead Head?

Stamps: none
Ink: Real Red, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Real Red, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black
Other: Bear Bigz Die, Beary Essentials Bigz Die, Beary Boy Sizzlets Die, Big Shot

I hope you enjoyed  these projects. Please stop back on Monday for a video tutorial to learn more about the shaving cream technique. Your next stop is Holly P, who will be featuring some of her amazing punch art! Thanks for joining me in wishing Stampin’ Addicts a very happy 2nd birthday!

I seem to have run out of time to show you the rest of my Valentine projects, since today is Valentine’s Day, so I’m just going to post the last three items here. First is the Valentine that Eve made for all of her classmates. This was a family effort again this year, with everybody but the dogs lending a hand. I am really proud of her for wanting to make her own again, and for coloring in all 44 bears herself! Here is the finished product. (I couldn’t take a group shot of all 44, because the last stop on our assembly line was stuffing the envelopes. This is a 3″x 3″ card. The little envelope is stamped on Pretty in Pink card stock, cut out, and popped up on a Stampin’ Dimensional.

Stamps: Beary Best Friends
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Other: Watercolor Pencils, Stampin’ Dimensionals

The next project I want to show you is the Valentine that I made for each of the second grade teachers. I used Tanya’s amazing book box, with great instructions! It was perfect for me, as a librarian, to give out, and since it uses the Matchbox Die, it holds four Hershey Nuggets. The below picture shows it tied shut, the front cover without the bow, and what the inside looks like.

Stamps: Valentine Defined, Language of Love Wheel
Ink: Basic Grey, Real Red, Blushing Bride
Paper: Basic Grey, Whisper White, Love Impressions Designer Series Paper, Glimmer Paper
Other: Matchbox Bigz XL Die, Big Shot, Blushing Bride Ribbon, Full Heart Punch, Hershey Nuggets

I have a regular group of friends that I eat lunch with at work each day, and when I saw these amazing little nugget purses on Krystal’s Sunday round-up, I thought they would be a really fun Valentine treat to hand out. They are so cute! They would make great baby or wedding shower favors. Each one holds a Hershey Nugget inside. It’s a little hard to see because of the flash, but that is  little rhinestone on top of each heart.

Paper: Real Red, Love Impressions Designer Series Paper
Other: Real Red 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Small Heart Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Glue Dots

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you had a good one! I’ll be back tomorrow with some bold colors for the ColourQ challenge!

Welcome to the latest Stampin’ Addicts’ Blog Hop, celebrating my favorite Stampin’ Up event of the year, Sale-a-Bration!  You may have just arrived from Krystal’s blog, where she showed you the  cute Wellness Wishes stamp set, or you may be starting here. Either way, all of the stops link together in one big circle, so you won’t miss any of the great ideas and projects.

I am very excited to be featuring the adorable Build-a-Bear set, Bear Hugs. This is a set from the main catalog that is one of the choices at the back of the Sale-a-Bration catalog. I’ve had this set for awhile, and I love it more and more every time I use it! It makes great baby cards, and can be used from baby showers all the way through a first birthday!

The first card I want to show you is based on Lauren Meader’s original baby onesie card. This bear image is just perfect to decorate it! I stamped the image in Basic Gray for a softer look, then used my markers to color it in.

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz
Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Pawsitively Prints II Designer Series Paper
Other: 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Subtles Brads (So Saffron)

My second card is another shaped card, this time a baby bib. (I believe this idea was created by the incomparable Jackie Topa.) It’s so easy to change the gender of the baby bear just by changing the color of his or her socks! I used my Aqua Painters and reinkers to color in the bear this time.

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Marina Mist, Whisper White
Other: Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Clear Circle Bigz Die, Big Shot, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-a-dile

My third project would work great as a baby shower favor — just fill it with chocolate and you are good to go! I stamped my bear in Basic Gray on the different colors of card stock, then cut them out and paper-pieced it together. It is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, In Color Designers Series Paper Stack
Other: Blushing Bride Poly Ribbon, Mini Milk Carton Die, Big Shot, Paper Snips, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Crop-a-Dile

My final project is by Eve, my favorite guest designer, and 7-year-old daughter. The Build-a-Bear stamps are a HUGE hit with the kids, and this one is no exception! How great is it that Stampin’ Up gives us a way to earn free stamps, so we don’t have to worry about letting the kids share them?

Stamps: Bear Hugs
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron
Paper: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Whisper White
Other: Small Heart Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch

I hope that you enjoyed this stop on the Stampin’ Addicts’ Occasions Mini Catalog Blog Hop! I am honored to be part of such a talented group of women! Your next stop is over to Carmen’s blog to see the awesome Extreme Skateboard stamp! Enjoy the rest of the hop!

I can’t post some of the cards that I’ve been making lately, since they are gifts that have not yet been given. Instead, I have a special treat for you, a fantastic card made by Eve! First, I am happy to tell you, she can now use the Stamp-a-ma-jig by herself for perfect placement. Not bad for a 7 year old! She had a couple great ideas for this card. One is the girl bear’s tiara, which was stamped in Versamark and then embossed in silver. The other was to stamp the trophy separately, then cut it out and raise it up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. She drew the speech bubble freehand.

Stamps: Beary Best Friends, Beary Nice Wishes
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Versamark, assorted Stampin’ Write Markers
Paper: More Mustard, Whisper White
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

I love stamping with Eve! She’s so clever and creative.

Happy Thanksgiving! When I saw these super cute Build-a-Bear Pilgrims on Heidi’s Blog, I knew that Eve and I had to make them! We had a lot of fun putting these together on Wednesday morning, before all of the cleaning and baking began. These are the ones I put together.

Paper: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Basic Black, Brushed Gold, Real Red
Other: Bear Bigz Die, Beary Essentials Bigz Die, Small Tag Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, 1/4″ Square Punch, Paper Snips, Big Shot, 2-Way Glue Pen

Eve set hers up in the “Mooflower” that her Savta and Sabba bought for her when we all went to Plimoth Plantation (yes that it how they spelled it) two years ago. How cute are they, making their way to the New World? I think we’ll bring this over to my in-laws as decoration.

Thank you Heidi for the great idea, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We had a really fun afternoon yesterday at the after-school card making class! One of the projects the kids could make was to die cut a Build-a-Bear and they could dress it.  I had a lot of clothes left over from my summer school card making class, plus I added some pumpkins and witches. They LOVED putting these together! They made a little fashion show at the end so I could take some pictures. There were three color choices for bears — Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake.

Created by 2nd, 3rd, & 4th graders — Eve, Lyla, Laura, Giana, Jade, Sydney, Rosie, Esther, Avi, Reggie, Madeleine, & Carly.

Dies used: Bear Bigz Die, Beary Dressy Die, Beary Essentials Die, Kooky Spooky Die

The reason that some of the bears’ heads look a little flat on top is that these are cards that open, and the top of the head is the fold.