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Happy Birthday to Me! (a little bit late)

Here are some of the birthday cards I received this year. Aren't they lovely? My MIL Linda made this card using lots of punches. Can you guess which punches she used?

Hardware for Dear Dad

My dad is here this weekend, so I get to give him his Father's Day card in person - yippee!

Here are two Father's Day cards I made, using different finishes of Hodgepodge Hardware to frame 'Dear Dad'. Dear Dad is part of the Holiday Blitz stamp set. The silver Hodgepodge Hardware, from the Occasions Mini, is only available until June 31, and the Copper finish is only available until August 10. The card also features Le Jardin Designer Series Paper, which we will be using at this weekend's Summer Gifts Class. Have you registered yet? We have 4 spaces left for Friday and many spaces available for Saturday. Register now at summergiftsclass.eventbrite.com Hope to see you this weekend!




Dear Dad is part of the Holiday Blitz stamp set. I recently received this set for free because I met some sales goals.

Happy Father's Day, too!

Celebrate! (with a cupcake)

I made a whole bunch of birthday cards tonight - some belated and some in advance. These are 3"x6" cards, so you can make 4 from a sheet of 12"x12" paper. They also fit nicely in Stampin' Up's long skinny envelopes.

Here are the card ingredients:

• Cause for Celebration - hostess stamp set


• Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron, and Whisper White Cardstock


• Basic Brown classic ink (doesn't run, so it's great for coloring)


• So Saffron and Pink stampin' write markers


• Chunky Essentials Glitter (adhered with 2-way glue pen)


• Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon
  
  

Did you know that time is running out for Purely Pomegranate and the other products in the In Color series? Stampin' Up introduced the In Color line as a collection of trendy colors, to be changed every 12 months. This year's collection includes: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, and Blue Bayou. These colors will be available in limited quantities after June 15, and will no longer be available after August 10. That means all card stock, ink pads, refills, ribbon (like the double-stitched ribbon above) will no longer be available in the 6 In Color options. The good news is that on August 11, Stampin' Up will introduce a new group of In Color selections. Stay tuned to http://www.shilohstamps.com/ for more details about the new In Color collection.

(Thanks, http://rubbermoonlighters.com/ for the cool image!)

Summer Gifts class sneak preview

Tiffany and I are finalizing the projects for the June 13 and 14 Summer Gifts class, and I thought you would want to take a look. Here's a wall hanging I'm working on.

My apologies for the grainy picture. My camera's busted, so now I'm taking pictures with my phone. In addition to the wall hanging, we will also be making a photo frame, a bag, and a party favor. Early Bird registration ends on June 30, so click http://summergiftsclass.eventbrite.com/ to register today.

amazing to zany card

Today, a young friend came over and made a birthday card for her cousin. Look at how she used lots of words from the Amazing to Zany set!

Here are the card ingredients:

• A Little Birdie Told Me stamp set


• Amazing to Zany stamp set


• Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White cardstock


• Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper (from the Occasions mini)


• Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon


• Scallop punch


• 1 3/8" circle punch

Congrats, fabulous friend!

My colleague and friend Debbie is getting married in a few weeks, so we had an office wedding shower for her yesterday. I don't have a stamp sentiment that says something specific about a wedding shower, so I used the Amazing to Zany set and stamped, "congrats fabulous friend". I think it did the trick. Since every bride and groom need thank-you notes, I made Debbie a folder full or thank-you notes in her wedding colors - pink and orange. I used Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava.





I also stamped the envelopes with an image from the Carte Postale set. I think it looks great on the envelope flap.








I made a folder for the cards using some Groovy Guava designer series paper. That's a trick I learned at Stampin' Down the Shore last year.












The card ingredients are:

• Baroque Motifs stamp set


• Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, and Whisper White cardstock


• Groovy Guava and Purely Pomegranate classic ink


• mat pack (for paper piercing)


• rhinestone brads in fire color assortment (Did I tell you I got the rhinestone brads for free?)

The folder uses:

• Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper (thanks, Ashley Hill, for the pic! http://rubbertherapy.blogspot.com/)


• Vintage brads


• 1/4" whisper white grosgrain ribbon


• Purely Pomegranate and whisper white cardstock


• scallop punch


• rhinestone brads in fire

Carousel for Mom

Yesterday, my Little Sister (through Big Brothers Big Sisters) asked if we could make Mother's Day cards together. I wanted to make a really special card for my mom, since she's always doing thoughtful things for me.

I had just gotten the Carousel Notes from the Occasions Mini (page 7) in the mail, so we decided to make our cards with Carousel Notes. Using the 3/16" hole punch, I punch a hole in each of the scallops, for a doily (sp?) effect. Then I cut a circle of dogwood paper from the Tie The Knot Simply Scrappin' kit. I stamped the definition for gratitude from the Define Your Life stamp set, and tied it all together with some Wild Wasabi double-stiched ribbon.

The cards come with lovely 6" square Chocolate Chip envelopes, so we enjoyed using white rub-ons on the envelopes. I tried to coordinate the dogwood motif from the card with a rub-on for back flap of the envelope.

The Carousel Notes are a set of 12 6" round scallop circle cards, in 4 each of Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, and Groovy Guava. The set includes 12 6" square chocolate chip envelopes. If you would like to place an order for the Carousel Notes, please click the Add to Cart link below. If you would like to add additional items to your order, please e-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com.

A little bit of happiness

Part of my daily routine is checking the Stampin' Up demonstrator website, since they post new samples of cards and scrapbook pages daily. It's a great place for ideas and inspiration. Here's one of today's samples, by Michelle VanWiggeren. I like how it shows a trail of dots tracing the path of the butterfly. The card also uses Stampin' Pastels for some soft coloring. It features the A Little Bit of Happiness hostess set that Amy P. just earned as part of the Stampers 6 Club.

Here are the other supplies it uses:

Paper:
CARD STOCK APRICOT APPEAL 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK ALMOST AMETHYST 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK CERTAINLY CELERY 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK WHISPER WHITE 8 1/2X11

Inks:
CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD APRICOT APPEAL, BASIC BLACK
STAMPIN WRITE MARKERS SOFT SUBTLES

Accessories:
STAMPIN PASTELS
SNAIL ADHESIVE PERMANENT
CRYSTAL EFFECTS

If you would like access to the Stampin' Up Demonstrator website, which includes thousands of professional samples, patterns, and business resources, consider signing up to be an SU demonstator. During the month of May, SU is offering 20% off the regular price of the new demonstrator Starter Kit and a free Hodgepodge Hardware set for everyone who enrolls in May. Click here for more details, or e-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com.

Free Shipping now until April 30

Since I haven't done any classes or workshops this month, I'm offering FREE STANDARD SHIPPING from now until April 30. This would be a great time to take advantage of the Free Wheelin' special, which is a free coordinating Stampin' Around when you order any of 6 pre-selected stamp sets. All of the Free Wheelin' wheels feature the jumbo wheels, which I find much more forgiving to use. Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place your order and take advantage of free shipping.

Also, here's a picture of the swap I made for our PhillyInkers meeting a few weeks back. I made a whole bunch of these, and I've been using them for all sorts of cards - thank you cards, sympathy cards, birthday cards, Thinking of You. I like that it's a pretty neutral floral motif that can be used for many different purposes. Here are the supplies for the card:

• From the Garden hostess set


• Basic Grey, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose Cardstock


• Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon (new in the Spring Summer catty)


• Rhinestone Brads in Fire (the rhinestone is pink, but it's hard to tell from the scan)

I got the Fire and Ice rhinestone brads free as part of Great Rewards, an incentive program for Stampin' Up demonstrators. They are $10.95 a box, and I got both boxes FREE! Let me know if you would like to know more about the benefits of being a Stampin' Up demonstrator.

Anatomy of a Swap

In my years of making cards I have tried to find the most efficient way to make lots of cards at once. Here's a sample of my process. This particular swap was for the January or February PhillyInkers meeting, and it was supposed to have a Valentine's theme. I was trying to make mine not tooo pink and red and heartsy, so I chose Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, and So Saffron for my color scheme.

First, I stamped a bunch of large flowers on some Whisper White cardstock. Then I experimented with different coloring patterns using the blender pen and ink pads. Do you know that trick? If you squeeze the lid of a Stampin' Up inkpad, it leaves a little ink on the inside of the lid, and you can use that ink as a palette for watercoloring.

Blender pens pick up some ink for temporary coloring. If I'm doing lots of watercoloring, I usually do one color at a time, so I don't have to keep cleaning my blender pen or brush. I wound up using So Saffron, Groovy Guava, and Purely Pomegranate here.

After finishing my coloring, I cut out the images using my super-sharp Paper Snips. These are smaller scissors that are great for very detailed cutting, like the petals of these flowers. They're also good for cutting ribbons that can fray with duller scissors, like the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

Then I put a brad in the center of each flower, using my paper piercing tool. I also cut my paper to size, and cut the gingham ribbon to size. I stamped my sentiment, "Time with Friends is time well spent" using black Staz-On ink, so that the ink wouldn't run when I colored in "Friends" using my Versamarker. Have you heard of those? It's versamark ink in a marker form.

Now here are my finished swaps, ready for the PhillyInkers meeting! Have you ever thought about joining the PhillyInkers? You're more than welcome to join our next meeting. We stamp, snack, and talk about how to build our stamping businesses. It's great fun. We always bring swaps, too. Check my google calendar on the right for the dates of our meetings.

Happy Easter!

I went to our quarterly PhillyInkers brunch today, and I brought these eggs to share with everyone. We also did a Shoebox Swap, so I'll be posting pictures of that soon. I had a bunch of rub-ons leftover from the Sale-a-Bration special, so I thought I would try them out on plastic Easter eggs. After some experimentation, I would say that the smaller images work better on curved surfaces. Have you had a chance to play with the new rub-ons yet? We made some cards with Rub-ons at our Stamp-a-Stack last weekend.

Does anyone know the history of Easter Eggs? I have been helping lead the kids group at my church recently, and we died eggs together on Sunday. We had a great time discussing the great symbolism of Easter eggs. Eggs are potential, new life, anticipation, and new beginnings. We had fun celebrating together. For more on the history of Easter eggs, check out the Easter Egg entry on wikipdedia.

I have really gotten into preparing for Easter this year. I have found the season of Lent to be a time of introspection and anticipation. For the first time ever, I actually gave up something for Lent. I've always been a bit skeptical about giving things up for Lent, since I know my tendency for drama and I feared that I would make a big to-do about my sacrifice. In past years, I've felt like it has been more beneficial for me to add things in to my life during the season of Lent - disciplines like praying, reading Scripture, listening to God. While I certainly am still working on those inward practices, this year, I chose to give up chocolate. I have to say, I had no idea how much chocolate I eat. It has been really challenging! I have tried to not make a big deal about giving it up, but I have had to acknowledge my choice several times as I was offered various chocoaltey treats. Sometime tomorrow, I plan to visit Philadelphia's Naked Chocolate to celebrate the end of my fast! They have this fabulous Drinking Chocolate, pictured above.


At dawn, I'll be attending a sunrise service marking Jesus' resurrection, and then I'm heading over to a friend's house for Easter brunch. How are you marking Easter this year? Post a comment letting us know the way you'll mark the day, and you will be entered into a drawing some Sale-a-Bration rubons, pictured at the left. To see a larger picture, just click on the image.

A Way to Budget Your Stamping Expenses - Stampers 6 Club

I'm looking for a few good stampers. If you are looking for a way to budget your spending on craft and scrapbooking supplies, the Stampers 6 Club may be a good solution for you. I am looking for 6 stampers to commit to ordering $25 of merchandise every other month for a year. Club members would place their orders together, and take turns receiving the hostess benefits on the months they order. If you have any questions about how the club would work or you would like to join the Stampers 6, contact me by April 1. I hope to place the first Stampers 6 order by April 15.

Here are a few more details:
Stampers 6 Club will keep you in stamps, accessories and more with a $25 order every other month. You may order anything you want from any of our current catalogs- and you receive the Hostess Benefits one out of those 6 months!

• Order amount: $25 minimum


• Commitment Time: 12 months (ordering every other month)


• Order by: 15th of each month (April, June, August, October, December, February)


• When am I the hostess? Hostessess go in rotating order of who joins the club first.
• Do we meet or do I have to have people to my home? No, but you can if you want to!
• Anything else I need to know? You will receive the Idea Book and Catalog FREE as well as specials and offers just for Stamper’s Club Members!!
  
  E-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com if you would like to sign up.

Stamp-a-Stack Sneak Peak

There are still 2 spots left for Friday evening's Stamp-a-Stack and several spots available for Saturday afternoon. Here's a sneak peak at some of the cards we'll be making. Tiffany and I have planned 3 card-making stations, where stampers will make 4 of each card.

Here are 2 versions of a Stamp-a-Stack card using the same supplies. Both cards feature the Friendship Blooms Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the coordinating Love and Happiness Sale-a-Bration rub-ons. During Sale-a-Bration, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 of merchandise ordered. Sale-a-Bration ends Monday, March 17, so contact me today to place your Sale-a-Bration order. To download the Sale-a-Bration brochure, click http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_SAB_08.pdf

For more details about this weekend's Stamp-a-Stack and registration information, go to http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/

So Many Scallops - So Many Possibilities

I love this new stamp set, So Many Scallops! I have been enjoying learning new ways to use the scallop punch, and this stamp set makes creating unique cards super-simple. These four looks use the same supplies:

• So Many Scallops Stamp Set
• Canvas background stamp
• Print Pattern background stamp
• Night of Navy cardstock
• Mellow Moss Cardstock
• Ultrasmooth Vanilla Cardstock
• Mellow Moss classic ink
• Whisper White craft ink
• Night of Navy classic ink
• Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon
• scallop punch
• brayer

The So Many Scallops stamp set is part of the Sale-a-Bration promotion, and so this stamp set is only available until March 17. During the Sale-a-Bration promotion, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 order, so this stamp set is actually free! Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place an order.

Next week's Spring Stamp a Stack will feature products from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and the new Occasions mini catalog. Click http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/ for details and registration information.

I made these 4 cardfronts using my supplies from the Feb. 23 PhillyInkers Stamp and Scrap University. Each participant received a 6x6 scrapbook, and then filled it with 24 technique pages. These samples show the double background technique. We used a brayer to ink the print pattern background stamp with mellow moss ink and then used a brayer to ink the Canvas background background stamp. Voila! Double backgrounds. That picture over on the right is a brayer, and it makes using background stamps even easier. I like the way the finished card looks like a screened door. For some great pictures of the Stamp and Scrap University, check out Tiffany's recent TLKreations blog post.

Announcing Germantown Stamp-a-Stack

I have been asking around to see what kinds of classes would be most helpful, and I have learned that people would love to attend a Stamp a Stack. A Stamp-a-Stack is an event where stampers make several copies of a very similar card. This gives stampers the opportunities to experiment with different sentiments, interchange images, and have lots of cards to take home and send to friends. So Tiffany and I have planned a Stamp-a-Stack for March 14 and 15. We will be featuring some products from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and the Occassions mini. During Sale-a-Bration, customers receive a free stamp set for every $50 purchase until March 17. The Occassions mini debuts on March 1, and it's full of fresh ideas for Spring.

Follow this link for details on how to register: http://gtownstampastack.eventbrite.com/

Stamp-a-Stack attendees will receive a stamp on their Shiloh Stamps Frequent Stamper card, pictured above. Frequent Stampers who receive 5 stamps on their card receive the 6th class free!

Cards of Love

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. How about you? My dear husband and I gave each other homemade cards. He made me a card that had pictures from each year of our five years together. Very sweet! Here's the card I gave him. I have to say, it's one of my favorite cards I've ever made. I made it a couple years ago, and I couldn't bear to give it away.

It uses a retired stamp set called Sweet of You, and a background called Handstitched. This was my first attempt at stitching on a card, and I have to say it's not too shabby. It's hard to tell, but I used Crystal Effects on the cake dome to make it look like glass. I love this color combination, too - close to cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and Regal Rose. Just sounds like Valentine's Day, doesn't it?



I have also been playing with my new A Little Birdie Told Me stamp set. Here's a wedding card I made for a swap with the PhillyInkers. I used a fun fold to showcase the 2-part sentiment. I have also used this set to make birthday cards. There's an itty birthday party hat with this set too. I gave those all away before I scanned a sample. Guess I'll just have to make some more!

This card uses:
A Little Birdie Told Me Stamp Set
Brocade Blue, Basic Black, and Confetti cardstock (recycled!)
Black Staz-On Ink
Brocade Blue and Sahara Sand classic ink pads
AquaPainter for watercoloring

What are your plans for Valentine's Day?

I've gotten some lovely Valentine's cards from my PhillyInkers friends lately, so I thought I'd share. I plan to make my own Valentines this weekend, so I'll be posting those soon.






Ilina Crouse made this lovely card using the White Magic Technique and the True Friend Stamp set. White Magic is one of the techniques we'll be teaching at Stamp and Scrap University on Feb. 23. Click the link below for more details. It's not too late to register!

http://www.stampandscrapuniversity.eventbrite.com/















Claire made this lovely card using the Sweet Shapes set and the black gingham ribbon. I love how she sprinkled the hearts with Dazzling Diamonds glitter! By the way, today's her birthday, so stop by her blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!









Tiffany made this Love Note card using the Embrace Life stamp set. She used this card as a Make and Take at her recent workshop.




















Kristin made this card using the Pick a Petal stamp set. I love how Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava work together so well. She added a pearl from the Pretties kit for a little extra flair.

Sale-a-Bration is Here!

Starting today, when you place a $50 order you receive a free limited-edition stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. When you place a $100 order, you receive 2 free stamp sets. There's no limit to the number of free sets you can earn! This is one of the best specials during the Stampin' Up calendar year.

Here's the link to the Sale-a-Bration catalog. I especially like So Many Scallops, a collection of stamps that coordinate perfectly with the scallop punch. Contact me today at alison@shilohstamps.com to place your Sale-a-Bration order.

Happy Birthday to Mom

Today is my mom's birthday, and here's the card I mailed her today. Let's see if she sees it on the blog before it arrives in her mailbox. I mailed the same card to my my mom-in-law, whose birthday was the 21st. My mom and my mom-in-law both requested stampin' goodies for their birthdays this year, so my mom got tons of stamp sets, courtesy of my dad. My mom-in-law got some punches and some stamps and some things for her new house.

Sorry for the blurry picture of this card. I was playing with the camera on my new phone, and it looks like I don't quite have it down yet. The card uses In The Spotlight (a retired hostess set) and a new celebrate set. It's hard to tell in this picture, but I used paper piercing in the corners and there's a brad in the middle of the starburst image. There's also a piece of grosgrain ribbon going across the middle of the card.

Coaster-Rama report

Coaster-Rama went very well the past couple nights. Here's a sampling of some of the coaster creations. Above is a coaster I made with the new Time Well Spent hostess set. This might be a birthday or Valentine's gift, I haven't decided yet.


Kim made this lovely set of coasters using a retired stamp set called Batik. She spent lots of time mapping out the design on paper, and then came up with a perfect coordinated and symmetrical finished product - lovely!










Amy made these coasters using a combination of Time Well Spent and a retired hostess set. I love how she stamped a flower behind the sentiment using a light yellow ink. It really ties the whole image together. All class attendees received some satin ribbon to tie up their coasters, since they make a lovely gift. Although this ribbon was available by the spool in December, the chocolate chip satin ribbon is still available as part of the Theater ribbon originals collection.














I made this pirate coaster for Jon to commemorate his pirate birthday party we had last November. It uses a stamp set called Ahoy Matey.













I made this coaster tonight, as I was inspired by one of Tiffany King's designs. It uses one of my favorite stamp sets - Baroque Motifs.

Cutting Up with the Coluzzle

Do you have any crafting supplies that you're not quite sure how to use? or you don't bother to take the time to use them? I don't own a coluzze, but I have to confess that I've never really learned how to use it properly. Here's a link to the recent Craft Critique review of the Coluzzle cutting system.

http://www.craftcritique.com/2008/01/cutting-up-with-coluzzle.html

I have to say I see its usefulness, but I just haven't taken the time to figure it out. I could have used the coluzzle when I was cutting circles for these cards I made for Angel Stampers for Soldiers. (ok, I can't find the picture right now, but I'll post it when I find it) I cut the circles the way my mom taught me - trace something round, and then cut it out. It's ok, but not perfect. Now see the Coluzzle is supposed to make cutting cirlces (and ovals!) much easier, since it's a stencil of graduated circles and ovals. You put your paper under the stencil and you use the special swiveling blade to cut around the stencil. It takes some practice, but I think I could get used to it. For a picture of the coluzzle, click here. If you'd like to order a coluzzle, send me an e-mail at alison@shilohstamps.com.

Have you used the coluzzle? What do you think of it?

Coaster-Rama

Is making homemade gifts one of your New Year's Resolutions? This Christmas, I made tile coasters for lots of people on our list. Here's a picture of some of the coasters we made. For more samples of Shiloh Stamps coasters, scroll down to my Very Coaster Christmas blog post.

On January 23 and 24, I will be hosting Coaster-Rama (see google calendar in the sidebar for times). Come make some coasters - the best-selling Shiloh Stamps holiday item. (I sold MANY of these coasters at the Circle of Hope Art Shop back in December.

$15 materials fee includes supplies to make 2 coasters and a $5 coupon towards stampin' supplies from Stampin' Up's new Spring-Summer Collection. Additional coaster supplies can be purchased for $1/coaster. RSVP to events@shilohstamps.com by January 16. Additionally, all Shiloh Stamps class attendees receive 10% off stampin' orders placed at classes. Remember to bring your Frequent Stamper Card!

Stay tuned for more details about Stamp and Scrap University on February 23! Shiloh Stamps Frequent Stampers will receive a stamp on their Frequent Stamper card for each session they attend.