Flowerbug's Inkspot

Here it is! Free Christmas Cards pdf!

Even though we still have a few minor details left to finish in my new Stamping Studio, I just posted pictures of it on the previous post. And to celebrate I promised I'd share these cards wit hyou & also the free pdf.  So here it is:

You can see all 10 of them in this photo.  And here is the free pdf for you to make your own:

Holly & Jolly Christmas cards 2010

When I saw these two Christmas products that coordinate, I knew they'd be easy to create cards with.  The Holly & Jolly rub-ons on page 184 US & the Jolly Holiday designer series paper on page 174 US are a perfect match. Honestly, these were so fun to put together!  I stuck with a few basic sketches so the designing was minimal.

In addition to these products I used various punches, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler & Old Olive card stock.  Plus I had to add some Cherry Cobbler seam binding & Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon. 

A paper cutter, rhinestone jewels, mini glue dots & dimensionals are the only other things needed. 

Here are a few of the other cards in the pdf:

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoy these Christmas cards! 

 

 

My New Stamping Studio!

I am so excited to show my amazing studio to you! 

But first I'll show you where I have been holding classes for the past 5 years.

This is my living room last year at Christmas.  I had two 6' tables down the center & that is where I had my classes.  

This is our old family room.  Beyond those sliding glass doors on the top left was a sunroom.  It was a nice room with windows on all sides, but it wasn't insulated so we rarely used it except in the summertime.  So my husband tore down the wall in between these two rooms for my new dream room/Stamping Studio.

Ready??!!

What do you think?  Can you believe my husband did about 99% of all the work here?!  Yup - I'm a very, very lucky gal.

I love the apple green color!  We painted one big wall this color to contrast with the white cabinets.  Here's some details:

These sturdy wood tables were from a restaurant auction.  All of the white cabinets in the room are from IKEA.  See the tall set of black plastic drawers on the right?  It's only there temporarily as I decided I needed one more white dresser in that spot & some awesome friends will pick one up for me in Minneapolis next weekend.

The floor is laminate - love it!!!

The back right 'desk' is a Big Shot station.

This is the other side view.  The back left desk is my embossing station.

The size of this room is 15' X 31'.  I am soooo pleased with the lighting - we have 4 big florescent lights on the ceiling & at PMS night last evening we all agreed it was plenty bright enough.  No more table top lights that are hard to see under.

See that tall white cabinet by the french doors?  That is a shoe cabinet we found at IKEA!  And guess what it's perfect for?

My 12 X 12" paper fits like it was made just for it!  You can get two stacks of them side by side in it since it's about 30" wide.  Even the craft keepers fit.  Plus it has a divider to fit even more paper above it.  I love the way the doors hinge open.  And it's only about a foot deep.

This is my display wall.  You can see the shoe cabinet aka 12 X 12 paper storage cabinet better here too.  Here's another view of the display wall:

Under the bulletin board will be where I store my bags of SU orders.  It will never look that neat again since I usually have quite a few!

And here is the last corner - my work area.  We are missing one wood cabinet on the right that sits on the counter top.  The one we received was cracked so Lowe's is sending a replacement. Here's the details on this space:

The punches are on towel bars from IKEA.  Love those! 

The tall wood cabinet to the right of the punches is my file cabinet where I store my card stock. 

I can swivel my chair from my stamping area on the left corner to my computer on the other side.  I hope I can still get some stamping done - I can get pretty engrosed in blog hopping & browing Stampin' Connection!

I have more details to show you on Monday! 

But now I can share my 10 Christmas Cards FREE pdf with you.  I'll do that in the next post. 

Pumpkin Basket

When I saw Lori Heiling's version of this adorable little basket I knew it would be perfect for my Big Shot class this week. 

She cased it from Debbie here:

Imagine this filled with special goodies or a bag of caramel corn.  Be sure to check out Debbies tutorial if you'd like to make one.  It's quite easy!

I used Tangerine Tango & Old Olive with a little patterned paper for the one leaf.  Can you see the embossed leaves?  I ran the die cut leaves through the Spider Web embossing folder.  A button & linen thread on the oval tag adds the perfect touch.

Sizzix Dies - Leaves #2, Scallop Circle, Finial Press & Spider Web embossing folder

Decorative Label punch - news

Even though Stampin' Up! predicted the popularity of the Decorative Label punch & ordred extra it's in such high demand that it is now on back-order.

And because it's included in one of the Holiday Bundles, here's what Stampin' Up! has to say about it:

• We will continue to offer the Tags til Christmas Bundle as part of the Handmade Holiday promotion. This will allow you & your customers who still want the bundle to order it now and still receive 20 percent off. The Tags til Christmas Set will ship immediately and the Decorative Label Punch will ship as soon as we have the Decorative Label Punches in stock.
  
• As another option for customers, we have created an additional Tags Til Christmas Bundle that includes the Ornament Punch instead of the Decorative Label Punch. This bundle will be available throughout the promotion even when the Decorative Label Punch is no longer on backorder. 

The backorders will be shipped out as soon as they are received by SU.  They expect three shipments from now through the middle of November. 

Click on the link below to see the flyer. 

Download ABC_Holiday_1010_US_new

And if you want to take advantage of my November class to go, you now have two options in punches.  And remember that if you order two of these Holiday Bundles at the same time, you'll get 2 extra cards in your Class to Go kit. 

November Class to Go samples are coming soon!

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Punch Art Wednesday - a Trick or a Treat?

I choose trick!  Well it might just be a treat too!

Remember this card?  I told you I'd share the 'how-to' on punching a longer Decorative Label punch.  

This is one of the cards we are doing at October's Technique Class.  (see details here.)  The 'imagine' tag is not just a regular sized Decorative Label punch, it's 1 1/2 times the length of a normal punch. 

Here's the tutorial for you plus another way to use the longer punched piece too. 

First insert a card stock strip measuring around 1 5/16" - 1 3/8" wide.  You'll need to insert it from the back, not the way you usually place your card stock in a punch. 

See the Pear card stock?  This Pear cs piece is just a scrap of card stock inserted that gives you a 'base' to slide the strip through the metal layers in the back of the punch.  This way it doesn't get caught on any of the points or curves of the metal as you're trying to insert it. You'll remove this Pear piece before punching, as soon as you get the strip inserted.  

You can either stamp your image before or after you punch one end.  After you stamp your image, insert it again pushing it in as far as you want so you punch off just the perfect amount. 

Now do the same thing with your Concord Crush strip.  Insert the strip once to get the fancy curved end.  Then adhere your white stamped tag onto that end.

Now you can punch off the perfect amount from the opposite end creating a beautifully layered tag. Cool huh??  I love to use my punches this way!  It makes them so much more versatile! 

My white strip is 1 5/16" wide & the Concord Crush strip is 1 3/8" wide. This give a narrow border on the top & bottom & as wide as I want on the ends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here is another way to use these longer punched labels:

It's a candy tent.  I started with a piece about 5" long & punched both ends  with the Decorative Label punch.  I scored the center 1" wide - perfect for a hug or a kiss - candy that is! 

Here are all three that I did today - I layered the center one with a narrower strip of Cherry designer series paper. 

See the above measurements for the widths of these strips. 

How die I know where to score the first line?  Some of these tents are shorter than others; they don't have to be exactly the same.  I just made a mark in the center of the strip & scored it 1" wide around that mark. 

I like this one.  It didn't photograph well, but it's very striking in person.  It's Pink Pirouette with a black lace bow.

Thanks for stopping in for Punch Art Wednesday! 

Free Christmas Cards pdf upload!

I am getting so excited about my new stamping studio that I want to thank all of my loyal customers & share a little something awesome with you too!  The room is almost done - just a few finishing touches left.  I may be able to move in this week!  I can't wait to show you pictures of it.  I have some before pics too - you'll be amazed! 

The new room will have tons of space for us & storage too, plus light!  No more struggling to see under inadequate lights! Woo hoo!!!!

Guess who's done almost all of the work.... my amazing husband Andy.  He has worked so hard since August on weekends & his days off & is very, very ready to be done now.  

Anyway, I wanted to share a little something with you in celebration of my new room so I am offering a free pdf of 10 easy, quick but beautiful Christmas cards that I made today. 

Here's one of them:

The pdf will have photos with the supplies list & step by step directions for all 10 beautiful cards.  So watch for it in a few days! 

As soon as I move in to my fabulous new room, I'll post it on my blog - I hope it'll be this Friday.

Bookmark Card

I first saw this neat card idea from my friend Susie.  I knew it would be perfect for my card clubs. 

I love the color combination here - Marina Mist with Celery & Black.  Really makes a beautiful card doesn't it?

See the scalloped Black piece on the right side with the butterfly on it?  Check this out.....

The Two Tags die makes a perfect bookmark to insert inside a Word Window punched slot.  Just insert the Word Window punch as far as you can & punch once.  Move it over just a 1/4" & punch again.  Now it's the perfect size for the Two Tags bookmark to be inserted in that slot.

We sponged a bit of Celery ink on the bottom of a Whisper White rectangle & then sponged Marina Mist on the upper portion.  Ink the Just Believe image in Black ink & stamp over the sponging - I use my favorite Black ink - Stazon.

The background Marina Mist piece was misted with a combination of rubbing alcohol (1/2 - 1 tsp) & Champagne Mist shimmer paint (2 oz).  It's beautiful in person!  After misting it we ran it through the Big Shot with the  SU Texturz plate.  Misting it with alcohol gives a deeper texture than normal. 

The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings embosslit & the pearls & rhinestones are perfect on them. 

My Digital Studio update

The My Digital Studio version 1.0.5 update is now available. With this latest update, you will receive functionality upgrades as well as access to seven new professional print output products--including a trifold card, a journal, a 5.5" x 6.5" calendar with easel, and four postcards.

It is important that you have the most recent version of the My Digital Studio software prior to installing the Professional Print Product Update.

Updating your software:

• If you have installed the initial update (version 1.0.1), simply click "Help" and select "Check for Updates" in the My Digital Studio software. The update will be performed automatically.
• If you have not completed the initial update, download the My Digital Studio update for a PC (version 1.0.1), or download the My Digital Studio update for a Mac (version 1.0.1). Then, complete the steps listed above to get the most recent update.
• Please note: once you download and install the update, your My Digital Studio software will display as My Digital Studio "1.0.5.665" in the About My Digital Studio screen under the Help menu.

Along with these great additional project options, nearly all of our current professional print products have been permanently reduced approximately 15-60 percent--just in time for all your holiday printing needs! Click here to see the updated pricing!

Punch Art - Goofy Little Acorn

Don't you love this little guy? 

Cute huh? He's adorable but is quite easy to make.

You just need three punches - the Ornament punch for his head, the large oval for his 'cap' and the small oval for his mouth.  Both the cap & mouth are made by double punching. 

Double punching is when you punch once & discard the first punched piece, slide the punch back in & re-punch further in than you did on the first punch.  This gives you a shape similar to the original punch, but different depending on how you re-punch.  

The stem is hand cut. His hair is linen thread worked until it ravels. 

• Stamps - Days of Gratitude, Smarty Pants
• Ink - Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Pretty in Pink (cheeks)
• Card stock - Cajun Craze, Very Vanila, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Black, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso - sponging
  
• Accessories - Linen Thread, white gel pen, sponge daubers, dimensionals, neutral brads - eyes, Basic Glimmer brads - mouth, Square Lattice folder - cap on head, wide oval punch - greeting, Decorative Label punch

****He's cased from cards made by both Doris Denman & France Martin.