Flowerbug's Inkspot

Ferns!

I finally have a fern stamp!  Yes, I am all about ferns.  Well, you can add flowers, botanicals, butterflies ..... to that list too.  I guess anything in the garden huh?  Now you know why my screen-name is 'flowerbug'.

Organic Grace is one of the new Level 1 Hostess sets in the Fall/Winter Catalog.  I took time to play a bit today & here is what I came up with.

Yes, I did cut out the ferns, but it only took 2 minutes.  Here's a trick I use when cutting things out - I'm not sure if it's the 'correct way' but it works for me. 
I trim off the outline of the fern or flower petals for example, then go back & cut the inside 'V's' out last.  Makes it a quick job.

Wonder where I got the inside rectangle scallop?  The square scallop punch!  Just punch it once & then move it over, matching up the scalloped edge & punch again.  Easy!

The ribbon is that wonderful Kiwi/Vanilla satin that I can't stop using. 
The Birthday Wishes is stamped in Versamark & embossed in Clear embossing powder. 
The Designer paper is called Haiku - beautiful, beautiful patterns. 

Open House Fun!

We had a wonderful time today at my New Catalog Open House.  Sorry for those of you who couldn't come.  There was lots to do! 
We had games, door prizes, make your own Catty Tabs, free stamps & make & takes plus lots of food of course.

The winners of the Door Prizes are:

Level 1 Hostess set - Julie B

$15 in Free Merchandise - Sharon S

Free stamp set - Time Well Spent - Karen A

Free stamp set - Spring Solitude Bundle - Carol A

Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' kit - Vicki L.

Congrats girls!

Here are the projects we did:

The candy treat bag was made using the Top Note Sizzix die & the new Bella Toile background stamp.  So very quick & easy to do. The flower was made with Bella Rose DSP, the Birds & Blooms Sizzlits dies & our Boho Blossoms & 5 petal punches.

The  Upsy Daisy card  used the new Baja Breeze card stock along with Not Quite Navy.  We inked the large stamp in Baja Breeze ink & sponged Not Quite Navy over the tops of the flowers before stamping.

Food:

I also had a recipe contest.  I made a pan of bars with an unusual 'Secret Ingredient'.  Whoever guessed the ingredient correctly would win one my very own Cookbooks.  Well, I am sorry to say that nobody guessed it right.  Everyone loved the recipe & since so many people have asked for it I decided to post it here. 

Now for those who ate these, don't get mad at me!  Remember how good they are!
Chris's Bars

8 oz. crushed Pineapple

16 oz can Van Camps Pork & Beans (pork removed) ***yes I do mean 'beans'!

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. oil

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon 

Beat the Pineapple & Beans together until smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Mix well & pour into a greased 11 X 15" baking pan (large bar pan).  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.  Cool. 

Frosting:

4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. cream or sweet milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Beat together & spread over cooled bars. 

I'd love to hear from anyone who has ever made or heard of this recipe before.  It was a total shock to me how delicious they are. 

More!

'More' NEW STUFF came today!  Gotta love UPS!  I was so excited to get my first order from the new Fall/Winter Catalog.  I was able to get some of the stamp sets that are on Sale too.  I didn't know quite where to start, but Pocket Silhouette's was the first one I reached for - here's the card I made.

Card stock & Ink - Kiwi Kiss, Pacific
       Point, Whisper White
Stamps - Pocket Silhouettes, saying from
      Upsy Daisy
Accessories - new Scalloped Square
   punch, Scalloped edge punch,
   hand-held ribbon punch, new
   Kiwi/Vanilla 3/8" satin ribbon, crafters
   tool kit, dimensionals

The new Kiwi/Vanilla satin ribbon is amazing - rich & smooth. 
The Kiwi squares around the Scalloped Square punch are cut out - no punch for that size yet! 

More uses for your Scalloped Edge punch!

I know many of you plan to order the Scalloped Edge punch right away, so I thought I would show you another way to use it.

You can make your own 'Inside-out Scallop Squares' with it!  Here's how:

Cut a square of cardstock - this one is 2 3/4" square.
Insert it into the scallop punch until you hit the back stopping edge, making sure the sides are even.
***Match up the edges of your card stock with the silver scallops or the grid marks on the lower area of the punch.
Punch once & turn it around to punch all 4 sides.
Easy, huh?

Here is what you get with different sized squares.

The first one  started out as a 2 1/8" square.  The punch removes the outside flat edge so you get a 1 1/2" finished scallop square.
Hint: Our 1 1/4" square punch fits perfect inside this one. 

The other two start out as either 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" squares.  The punch leaves the outer straight edge on it, making a nice border. 


Here's what I did with mine. 

The Ticket Corner punch matched the edge so well I used that & then added a background piece of Pink Pirouette card stock.  Then Kiwi Kiss. 

The main stamp is from one of our new stamp sets called 'A Flower for All Seasons'.   Cute huh?

The bottom verse is from the other new Stamp Set - Heard from the Heart, which is on sale right now.

Colors are Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss & Taken with Teal. 
I punched the Horizonal Slot punch twice to add the wide Olive Grosgrain ribbon.


 

Online Catalog

If you've clicked on the picture of the New Fall/Winter catalog on my Blog at the left, & haven't gone to the online catalog site, there is a reason why.  There is a temporary problem with viewing it.  The reason is big news!

Stampin Up! is adding Online Ordering this Fall!  You can order, through me! anytime - day or night via the internet.  And each product will be pictures along with some examples if items made with the product you're viewing.

Here's what they have told us:

Where's the Online Catalog?
August 12, 2008

The new Online Ordering system will take the place of the online catalog you're used to seeing. During the interim period between the release of the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog and the release of Online Ordering, the online catalog has been replaced with a PDF version that can be downloaded and viewed. This is a temporary solution that allows online access to the catalog until Online Ordering is available.

We are working to decrease the document's download time on our end, but because of file size and significant download traffic, it may take some time to download. When you do download the document, make sure to save it to your hard drive so that you do not have to download it again.

Thanks for your patience as we work to bring you a fantastic new Online Ordering system!

Hot News!

There is a fantastic new addition coming… the Sizzix Big Shot die-cut machine!

Partnering with Sizzix, Stampin' Up! is offering this exclusive machine available only through Stampin' Up! demonstrators. In addition to the die-cut machine, Stampin' Up! will offer 29 Sizzix dies and 7 exclusive dies.  The exclusive dies are only available through Stampin' Up!

The Big Shot is the only die cutting machine that will work with 'all' of any other companies dies & embossing folders.  It is light-weight & constructed in one piece for extra heavy duty work. 

One other hot News item - Shelli Gardener, the co-founder of Stampin' UP! is announcing her own product line.  It is called 'So Shelly' & will feature items that she particularly loves.  This includes stamps, Sizzix dies & other accessories coming soon in the Holiday Mini Catalog in October.  

We can begin ordering from the SU Big Shot & Sizzix line on September 2nd. 

New Color Combo's for August

We have this routine at my monthly PMS night.  Shirley & Annette help me decide on new Color Combo's for my Cardstock Clubs each month.  July's was the most well attended, busy PMS night yet, so since I was otherwise occupied they did all the work that night.  Thanks so much girls!  Here is what they came up with.

1.  Night of Navy, So Saffron & Riding Hood Red

2.  Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss & Chocolate Chip

3.  Mellow Moss, Almost Amethyst & Naturals Ivory

Of course I have to come up with card examples to showcase each of these combos, so here they are! 

Eastern Blooms is one of the stamp sets I received free at Convention. 
You can tell it's right up my alley!  Doesn't it reminds you of Hawaii?  I also used Happy Everything.

A very easy card.  After I was done I realized I hadn't added any embellishments & decided it's perfect all on it's own. 

Aren't the colors awesome together??

I sure thought this combo was going to be hard to put together - it wasnt' tho - the combo girls were right again!

I used stamp sets - Frames with a Flourish & Sincere Salutations, embossing them in White EP.  Added the ticket corner punch, some Moss Taffeta ribbon & that was it. 
Another easy card just perfect for a wedding. 


Don't you just love these stamps?  That phrase 'My dear, kind  & wonderful Friend' is from the set called 'All Holidays.'  It makes any card beautiful.
The flowers are from another of my new favorite sets - called Wonderful You.
I stamped the flowers in Riding Hood Red, stamping off once on the bottom one.  The leaves were stamped in So Saffron.
And - notice no embellishments again?  Not even ribbon?!!
None needed in my opinion.  

Your Choice - Four Options!

Have you ever thought about joining the Stampin' Up! team? 
If you've had just a stray thought, consider it again.  You can join for just $99 now through October 11th.  And you have a choice of options for that $99.
You can choose a Stamp-Focused Starter kit, a Scrapbook-Focused Starter kit or even a Home Decor-Focused Starter kit.

Click on the Flyer below to enlarge it. 

In addition to the items in the starter kit, you also get quite a few business supplies to help you get going.  This is an awesome deal!

A fourth option is to get the full Starter Kit for $199.  If you choose this option, you get an extra free stamp set from the Fall/Winter Catalog of your choice.

If you think you have to make this a busy business like mine is, that is so not true.  You can get into this just for yourself - for the discount, or maybe for you & your friends can get together to order once a quarter. 
The minimum order you need to stay active is just $300 per quarter.  Easy to do with a few friends getting together every 3 months to stamp & order.  And when you no longer want to continue, you just stop ordering.  It's that simple! 

The other thing to consider is that you can still join & continue attending my classes & clubs.  I know many of you don't want to leave me to be on your own.  You don't have to - Talk to me!

It's easy to sign up on-line via my Stampin' Up! website here:  My Website

I'd like to give you a free New Scallop Edge punch or a free New Scalloped Square punch from me if you sign up during this special. 

Inspired by Nature

I was finally able to play with my new favorite stamp set today, Inspired by Nature.

I inked the grass stamp in our new Baja Breeze ink & stamped off once before stamping onto the Whisper White CS.
Then I inked the cone flowers in our new Pink Pirouette ink and sponged a bit of Riding Hood Red ink onto the flower centers before stamping.

Sponge a bit of Baja Breeze ink onto the edges & a bit around the 'sky' & it's done. 
Super easy.

 I felt like I should add some ribbon or something else, but didn't want to ruin the soft, serene look of the card.  So all I did was stamp another flower & cut it out to pop it up over the first one. 

For this one I stamped the flower stamp using White Craft ink.  Then I added Pastel Chalks with a cotton ball & Q-tip. 
Chalk colors are Pumpkin, Ruby Red & Old Olive.
The card base is Old Olive. 

This one is also very simple. 

If you want to create fast & easy cards, I think this stamp set might be perfect. 
It sure doesn't need much to make a beautiful card.