Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

Wow! What could be better than great colours from ColourQ this week? Why, a fabulous Scrapbook Sketch from Stampin’ Addicts to go along with it!

Since my husband couldn’t go along to one of my friend’s wedding’s this summer, I took Eve as my date. (I asked if it was okay first, of course!) And how much more fun that Amy ended up being Eve’s third grade teacher this year!

I created this page with My Digital Studio, Stampin’ Up’s digital scrapbooking and card making software. Did you know that you can now download a free trial of the software? It’s the same fully-functional software, yours to try free for 30 days! Click here for all of the details.

The first Saturday in November is Digital Scrapbook Day. Stampin’ Up has a big celebration planned for November 4-7, and to gear up for it, I will be posting only digital projects for the next 5 days. For the My Digital Studio Contest we were asked to submit both a scrapbook page and a card. I decided to create a wedding card. This could easily be tweaked to become Thank You notes, a guest book, a scrapbook page, or even place cards! The possibilities are endless with My Digital Studio.

The card uses the digital version of the Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper, which just screams “Wedding” to me. For the sentiment, I used the Word Play stamp brush set. Each phrase comes both as a whole and in pieces, so I was able to change the colors by layering them. I offset the layers to add more depth.

The finalists are up for the My Digital Studio Contest. Since I am not one, I am posting my entries over the next couple days. Please take a minute to vote for the winners. You have until the end of the day on Friday.

There is nothing like a wedding to put a smile on your face and tears in your eyes. I am super excited to be celebrating with Amy and Todd today. She made her own invitations out of Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver, and Whisper White, and I wanted to make a card to match. (You may recall that I made her shower invitation and shower card as well.) I decided to create a card based on the Rose Trifold Wedding Card by Tanya. Here it is closed:

Stamps: A Word for You, Fifth Avenue Flower
Ink: VersaMark
Paper: Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Manhattan Flowers Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, White 5/8″ Satin Ribbon, Bashful Blue 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Stampin’ Dimensionals

And this is what it looks like open:

Best wishes for a wonderful life together!

I went to a bridal shower a few weeks ago, the same one that I made the invitation for. I wanted to make a card that was different, but that used the same colors as her wedding — Bashful Blue, White, & Silver. I decided to use vellum for a softer look. I embossed it, because, well, because embossed vellum looks really cool! I suppose the saying is more for a wedding, but I think it works for a bridal shower too.

Stamps: Word Play
Ink: VersaMark, Bashful Blue
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Vellum Cardstock
Other: Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Silver Embossing Powder, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Whisper White Satin Ribbon

I cleverly hid my adhesive behind the ribbon. Sneaky, huh?

Two of my friends at work are throwing a bridal shower for another one of our colleagues. Since the bride-to-be is a stamper herself, and will even be making her own wedding invitations, I asked if I could have the honor of making the invitations. They really liked the style of Brooky’s card, so I adapted it to match the wedding colors of Bashful Blue, Silver, and White.  I also made it a full card, instead of a front flap, so it would be more sturdy and there would be more room for the information inside.

Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Ink: VersaMark
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Hodge Podge Hardware, Silver Embossing Powder

I am so pleased with how these came out! Their simple elegance just makes me smile!

I absolutely love this new Valentine’s Day set, Valentine Defined. It has so many adorable images! I decided to use the super cute flamingos for this card. I also pulled out my Wild Wasabi card stock which I haven’t really used that much since it came back last summer. I adored it when it was one of the in-colors, and missed it terribly while it was on hiatus, but surprisingly haven’t reached for it much over the last 6 months. I have a feeling that will be changing soon! This card doesn’t have to be for Valentine’s Day — it could be for a wedding, anniversary, or anytime you want to say “I love you!”

Stamps: Valentine Defined
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Subtles Patterns Paper Stack (Pretty in Pink & Wild Wasabi)
Other: Pretty in Pink 5/8″ Satin Ribbon, Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, Big Shot

Be on the lookout for more cute cards with this set. I love it!

This weeks Pals Paper Arts Challenge is to create a clean and simple card using pearls. I absolutely love Stampin’ Up’s new Basic Pearls (and the Basic Rhinestones, too) so I was super excited to try this! I used this week’s Color Challenge from Stampin’ Addicts to lay the groundwork on my card as well. This card would be great for either an engagement or wedding, or maybe even an anniversary.

Stamps: Medallion, A Word for You
Ink: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso
Paper: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Other: Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Have I mentioned how much I love these pearls? They come with adhesive already on them, and you get over 150 pearls for $4.95!

Today’s Pals Paper Arts challenge is another monochromatic one — this time it is purple. I was trying to decide what I wanted to do. Purple flowers, purple butterflies, purple ??? I decided on purple owls. Yep, purple owls. I used Stampin’ Up’s new Owl Punch, which makes it so easy to create adorable owls. How cute are they?

Stamps: Woodgrain
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Basic Black, Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (Perfect Plum)
Other: Two Step Owl Punch, Whisper White 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon

This would make a super cute wedding or anniversary card, or even a Valentine.

Yesterday was my downline Samantha’s bridal shower. Ordinarily, I might be tempted to give a package of handmade, stamped thank you notes. But since she is such a great stamper, I knew that Samantha would have more fun making her own. She also loves using My Digital Studio, so I decided to give her some of the new wedding-themed downloads that were just recently released. (You can see them here and here.)  I burned them onto a CD to give her. Then I needed some cute way to package the CD.

A CD is about 5″ in diameter, so I started with a 6″ square card, Her wedding is in October, and I know she is using some gorgeous fall colors, so I decided to focus on Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze. Here is what I came up with for the cover:

Stamps: Medallion, Perfect Punches, All Holidays, Itty Bitty Bits
Ink: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla
Other: 1″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (circle), Bitty Buttons, Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon, Sponge Dauber

I used the satin ribbon to tie the card closed, since the CD was heavy, and also to make it look more like a present. Once you untie it, this is what you see: (I wrote my note to her on the left side.)

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper
Other: 1″ Circle Punch, Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon

Isn’t that Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper great? It comes with one side of each piece embossed with a glossy design. I made sure when I cut it that the glossy part would show here. I used SNAIL on three sides of the Cajun Craze card stock to make a pocket, an added a notch to get the CD out more easily.

Next, I needed an envelope, since I didn’t have anything big enough for this card. I used another sheet of the Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper. This was a very simple envelope — I took a 9.5″ square, turned it on it’s point, then folded in the corners. I sealed the bottom three sides with snail, then used a little of the Dotto Repositionable adhesive so the top flap could be easily opened and closed again.  I stamped Samanthatha’s name with the Broadsheet Alphabet set, since iti was one of the digital downloads on the disc. Here is the front:

And the back:

I’m really pleased with how this came out! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Samantha! I wish you only happiness!

I am so excited to welcome a new demonstrator to my team! Samantha is a fantastic stamper and a great person, and is on her way to becoming a wonderful Stampin’ Up demonstrator.  Since she enjoys digital scrapbooking in addition to hands-on paper crafting, she chose to sign up with the Digital+ Starter Kit. This starter kit contains a mix of both digital and actual products.  In addition, she received two free DVDs with over four hours of stampin’ technique instructions on them!

Samantha was kind enough to let me share with you one of the projects she created with My Digital Studio. This is the “Save the Date” card for her upcoming wedding.

(Some information removed for privacy reasons.) Isn’t it great? So beautiful! And she was able to choose exactly the colors she wanted to go with her wedding! I am so happy that Samantha decided to sign up. I hope you will join me in wishing her a long and successful career as a Stampin’ Up demonstrator!