Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

What fun, summery colors from ColourQ today. It’s kind of a last hurrah as we wave good-bye to summer, even here in Southern California!

As I looked through my old pictures for ones that matched the colors, I found this super cute one of Eve and Biscuit. Can you ever have too many pictures of adorable children and their puppies? How sweet are their faces? Eve was two here, and Biscuit was about 1.

The background paper is from the digital version of the Domestic Goddess Designer Series Paper. It has such cute patterns!

Today’s ColourQ colors are so bright and fun!

I decided to use a 5 1/2 year old picture of Eve and Biscuit. They both look so young there. Eve is turning 8 today! I can hardly believe it. (See my post from yesterday for a look at her birthday card.) I created this layout with Stampin’ Up’s My Digital Studio software. I decided to use the black to outline the different elements, adding a more cartoon-y and childlike look to the layout.

Since this features Biscuit, it is also perfect for this week’s SUO animal themed challenge.

Good news for those of you who love My Digital Studio as much as I do!  A FREE update (1.0.6) is now available for all My Digital Studio users with the packaged DVD software.  The update provides users with new functionality and several new options for print products. The easeist way to get your update is to open your MDS program, click “Help” and then select “Check for Updates” in the My Digital Studio software.  The update will be performed automatically.  Be sure to allow for some time as it is quite a large download.  When you are done, you will be able to create and print some AMAZING new projects! If that doesn’t work, go to  MyDigitalStudio.net and download it from the updates section here.

Here are some of the new enhancements in functionality and print products in this FREE update to expand your options while designing:

• Group and edit: Enjoy the ability to group objects and then resize, recolor, and rotate, them all at once.
• Access more information: View project dimension information in both inches and pixels when you right-click the project and view the Edit Object screen. Make sure to check out the Info tab on this same screen for more object details.
• Get the pages you need: My Digital Studio automatically adds just the number of pages you need for the type of project you’re creating (for example, four pages for greeting cards, two pages for postcards, and 26 pages for calendars).  Note that the last page of greeting cards, trifold cards, and calendars automatically includes the Stampin’ Up! and My Digital Studio logos as embellishment pieces which can be removed.
• Choose what you view: You can check a box to show the bleed (trim) area in Preview Project, or simply uncheck to hide it.
• Crop with confidence: When using the crop feature for Photos or Background Paper added as a page layer, use the ruler or width and height boxes to crop an image to the perfect size.
• Keep it quick: Move back and forth between project pages with a quick key command (ctrl+right arrow for next page; ctrl+left arrow for previous page) or from the View menu in the top menu bar.
• View the Resource Palette with ease: Use your keyboard arrows in the Browse section of the Resource Palette to quickly toggle between artwork.
• Add and delete pages in a flash: Do it all at once.  Forget the days of adding and deleting pages one-by-one.  Simply select the page thumbnails at the bottom of your canvas, right-click and delete.
• Keep your favorites in line: Remove your favorite colors via the Remove Favorite button from the Favorites tab of the color palette.

I am really excited about the changes to the Grouping Function. I used them when I created the scallop circle with the little girl and dog from All in the Family. It was super easy to group them together and then resize them!

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the new My Digital Studio downloads — Stampin’ Up promised new downloads every Tuesday in April! (I’ll have them posted here for you bright and early every Wednesday morning!)

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts New Catalog Mega Hop, featuring brand new sets from Stampin’ Up’s 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog. You may have just arrived here from Rhonda’s Stampin’ Bunny blog, where she featured the teen hit, Grunge Rock. If you are starting here, no worries! The whole hop goes in a circle, so you will be able to see all of the fantastic projects. I am featuring the new set, Family Business, which coordinates with All in the Family. I was super excited to see this set in the new catalog for several reasons. First, because I love All in the Family, and I love that they keep coming out with additional items for it. Second, because there is a top with a stethoscope! My husband is a respiratory therapist and my father is a pediatrician so this is just perfect. Third because there are books! I’m a librarian! I love books! And finally, I was thrilled to see the apple. It’s a little itty bitty apple, but I’m always looking for apples to make my Rosh Hashanah cards!

The first project I want to show you is the family card that I made. Now that we have the right professional accessories, it was a snap! (Note: I used the Blush Blossom marker for our faces. Although the rest of the Blush Blossom line has retired, the Blush Blossom Stampin’ Write Marker is still available.)

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Business, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze
Paper: Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Other: Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Folder, Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig

When I saw that this stamp set was available in the Clear Mount, I wasn’t sure which version to get. The wood mount was more expensive, but I worried about all of the little pieces. Would they stick to the blocks? Would I lose them? I have to tell you — I am so glad that I decided to go with the clear mount! They work great, take up less space, and best of all — I don’t have to use a Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement! I love it!

My second card could be a thank you note to a hair stylist or from a one. It works either way. How cute is that little hair dryer?

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Business, Family Phrases
Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, In-Color Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (Concord Crush)
Other: Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig

If you don’t want to dress full people, you can make some super cute tags using just the accessories. In the picture below, I have a cute back to school match box. (Not that I’m in favor of bringing matches to school. Obviously it would be filled with other things.) I also included three more tags that could be used with coordinating boxes, milk cartons, or even on the front of 3″ x 3″ cards.

Back to School:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White, Celebrations Designer Series Paper
Other: Matchbox Bigz XL Die, Big Shot, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Construction Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Basic Gray
Paper: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Gardening Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green, Cajun Craze, Basic Gray
Paper: Cajun Craze, Garden Green, Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Hair Styling Tag:
Stamps: Family Business
Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink Whisper White
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Here’s a look at all of the pieces included in this fantastic addition to the All in the Family line. There are 18 pieces, covering a wide variety of occupations.

I hope you liked seeing these different projects made with Family Business. Your next stop on the Blog Hop is Tinkerin’ in Ink with Tanya, where she will be featuring the fun and fresh Funky Four.

Next Blog —>

My best friend from high school just had a baby, a second little boy. I wanted to make her something to celebrate his arrival, so I thought it would be a perfect time to try the Top Note Wallet. There is a great video tutorial for this on Stampin’ Addicts. Here is what the outside looks like:

Stamps: All in the Family, All in the Family Accessories
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Word Window Punch, 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Soft Subtle Brads (Certainly Celery), Top Note Bigz Die

The inside uses two 3″ x 3″ envelopes to hold pictures. There is a spot for each of the boys.

Stamps: All in the Family, All in the Family Accessories
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: Top Note Bigz Die, Square Mini Envelopes

Of course, I also had to make a matching card. I used Lauren Meader’s Baby Onesie Card design.

Stamps: All in the Family
Ink: Bashful Blue
Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Soft Subtle Brads (Certainly Celery)

Congratulations to Nancy, Greg, & Finn on the arrival of Silas! Miss you!

One of Steve’s colleagues at work just had a baby girl, and I thought this would be a great time to try out Cami’s Trifold Card. (You can see the tutorial for this here.) I love how this came out! We may be making this at Friday’s Fun Fold Card class at Sandi’s house in Ashby. Contact me if you are interested in joining us, or to schedule your own workshop or class!

Here is the card closed:

And here it is all opened up:

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Phrases
Ink: StazOn Black, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa,Whisper White, Candy Lane DSP
Accessories: 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Slit Punch

Don’t forget! Only a week and a half left for the buy 3, get 1 free special on all of the Designer Series Paper and Textured card stock!

Eve and I spent a long time trying to figure out what to do for her birthday this year. I didn’t want to do the huge party thing like we had for the past two years. So we tossed around a few ideas (okay, a ton of ideas) and finally settled on a movie night. She invited a couple friends for pizza, popcorn, birthday cake and a  movie. Here’s the invitation that we came up with to go along with the theme:

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories
Inks: StazOn Black
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Spiral Punch, Stampin’ Write Markers, Texturz Plates
(It is hard to see, but there are small polka dots from the Texturz Plate on the Real Red background)

I love using the spiral punch to make filmstrip-style cards. And it was just so perfect for a movie night!

As I was making Purim cards, I realized that with the crown in Family Accessories Too I could make a cute little girl dressed up like Queen Esther. And if you look at it right, the karate outfit kind of looks like something Mordecai would wear. So with that I mind, I created this adorable (if I do say so myself) Purim card with kids in costume. I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to color it in for a richer color.  I dotted the “i” with a rhinestone brad for a little bling.

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories Too, Fundamental Phrases, Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Ink: StazOn Black, Elegant Eggplant, Various Stampin’ Write Markers
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Whisper White
Accessories: Circle Rhinestone Brads (Fire), Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Eve and I were so excited to see Kristina Werner’s Color Inspiration up! Especially since our new catalog order came in yesterday. Eve was especially excited to use the  Family Accessories Too set. She wanted to make a Rock Star Girl card, but got a little frustrated trying to stamp the guitar and microphone on top of the girl. (She is 5, after all.)  This week’s colors are:

This is the card that Eve came up with:

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories Too
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: So Saffron, Taken with Teal, Whisper White
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Eyelet Border Punch

Thanks for looking! Eve really appreciates all of your comments. Her face lights up when I read them to her. I really enjoy this part of my week, doing the challenges with my daughter!

Eve (who is 5) has played along with several of the color challenges, but has never tried a sketch challenge. She liked the look of this week’s sketch on Mojo Monday, and gave it a whirl. I helped with the cutting and some of the punching, but she picked out the colors and papers herself. She also did the scallop border punch and trimmed the ribbon on her own! Her description of the card, “The girl in the card is reaching out to give you a hug.”

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories, Family Phrases
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Candy Lane DSP
Accessories: Pink Pirouette Striped Ribbon, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Border Punch

I love crafting with Eve! She is so much fun!

With the way Eve has become such an excellent stamper, you can say that it is “all in the family.” All in the Family is also the name of one of my favorite sets in the catalog. I was so excited to see that there is a now a Family Accessories Too set. Below is a card that Eve made, using All in the Family and its coordinating wheel. It is pretty tricky lining up the heads and the bodies, she did a great job! It is colored in with the Watercolor Pencils, but she chose to leave them looking pencils, and not blending them. Her description of the card is that it is her cousins Evan and Sophia playing ball with our dog Biscuit in a park across the street from their house. I just love how she drew in the street!

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories, Neighborhood Wheel
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Yo-Yo Yellow
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils

Family Accessories Too $19.95 Images©Stampin' Up!