Great minds...

Hi Stampers,

I hope that you are staying warm - Chicago has been in the deep freeze and knee deep in snow for so long I can't remember what it looks like to not have snow everywhere - we're running out of places to put it now when it snows.

Anyway, I thought I'd share two similar cards with you today - just to show you that great stamping minds think alike - the first one I came up with and the second one my friend and fellow demonstrator Sue came up with for our meeting in January.

Mine used Strawberry Slush, Whisper White and Silver Foil as the colors and the Sale-a-bration set Banner Blast as well as the matching punch and the Decorative Dots Embossing folder- each of which you can get for FREE during Sale-a-bration with a $50 order - ask me how you can get yours!  I stamped and/or punched the images out and strung them on a piece of White Baker's Twine - a simple card for Valentine's Day,  I accented the love banner with a Rhinestone.

The second card by Sue uses  a similar color palette of Real Red and Strawberry Slush only with Silver Glitter paper and Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine - also accented with a Rhinestone and some extra hearts as well.

Just goes to show you that great minds think alike and that there's always similar ideas floating around in the stamping world.

Happy Valentine's Day and Stay Warm!

Sharing some love...

Hi Stampers,

Thanks to the stampers who came to my "All About Love" stamp camp last night - they were able to mostly get home before our latest snowfall started!

We made projects that were all about love - anniversaries, wedding, shower, Valentine's Day.

Here's one of the projects we made - I saw this card online somewhere and really liked it and added my own spin to it:

I used Crumb Cake, Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White for this card.  I stamped the You & Me from the Perfect Pennants stamp set (Occasions Catalog) in Black and cut it using the Heart Framelits for the Big Shot.  The heart is accented with the heart from the Holiday Minis punch pack and a Rhinestone for some bling.  The arrows are the Chevron border punch (Occasions Catalog) using Basic Black and trimmed in the front for the "V" and backed with a piece of Whisper White and again accented with Rhinestones.   The Crumb Cake piece is "faux stitched" with Basic Black marker - I actually made a chipboard template to do the faux stitching so it would be straight - I just cut a square of chipboard that was the right size to trace around.  the Real Red background piece is textured using the Arrows embossing folder (Occasions Catalog).  The card base is Crumb Cake.

Hope you enjoy this first love card as February begins - there will be more!

Join us for our next stamp camp, where we will be making projects from the Occasions and Sale-a-bration catalogs on Saturday, February 22 at 1:00 p.m.

Valentine's Day with Dude, You're Welcome

Hi there Stampers,

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  I wanted to share a few projects that I made with Stampin' Up's recently added kit - Dude You're Welcome.  You can see a video about the kit here . It comes with an ink pad, some double mounted stamps on wood blocks and some background papers and envelopes to create cards either by men or for them as is the case for me today.

I made a few designs for Valentine's Day but they could also be for an anniversary or any other time - I used the I Love You stamp and some hearts I punched out with the small heart punch.

This first one uses the Crumb Cake and Basic Gray background paper included in the kit - I stamped it right on the background paper  in Versamark and then heat embossed it with Crystal Clear embossing powder.  then I accented it with Real Red hearts with the small heart punch and attached the whole front to a Real Red card.

The second card uses the same stamp only on another of the background papers (which are almost as thick as cardstock) - this one is Very Vanilla and Basic Gray and this time I stamped in Basic Gray, cut out the image and inked it again with clear Versamark ink and heat embossed it in Crystal Clear.  this time I embellished it with a Red Glitter paper heart and some of the new Two Tone Gray wide ribbon.  I popped the glitter heart up with Dimensionals.



As the only female in my house , these easy to make cards are perfect to give to or receive from the men in your life.  I will add that one of my sons made a card for his girlfriend with the kit as well although he didn't want me to blog a picture of it LOL.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi Stampers,

A quick share for you today - it's the cards I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. It uses the fun set from the Occasions Mini called You're My Type. I really wasn't sure I was going to order this set but then I saw all the cute samples with it and as someone pointed out at Leadership (maybe it was Carrie Cudney) it looks like "Mad Men" and since that's one of my favorite TV shows, I decided to see what I could create with it. Also, this was the kind of typewriter I learned to type on back in the day in high school typing class. I thought it was cool that I had an electric typewriter in college LOL.

Anyway, this card uses Very Vanilla, Basic Black and Real Red. I used some "accounting looking" DSP from the First Editions DSP which works great with this stamp set. I stamped the typewriter in Basic Black and cut it out. I used the Houndstooth Embossing folder on a 3.5" circle and some Red Glimmer paper as accent hearts (punched with the Heart to Heart punch). The greeting "You're just my type" is from the same stamp set - I liked it because my husband loves puns so I thought he'd like it. The Happy Valentine's Day is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

A simple card for big Valentine's Day wishes for my special husband!

Enjoy Valentine's Day and Keep Stamping!

Since it's almost Valentine's Day...

Hi Stampers,

I realized today that I hadn't posted any Valentine's Day projects yet and wanted to share a card today that I made as a swap for Stampin' Up's Leadership Conference last month and one of the cards I made at a Shoebox Swap we participated in at Leadership.

This card uses Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Gray and several items from the Occasions Mini Catalog. The stamps are from Take It To Heart (the heart and banner) and the greeting is from With All My Heart in the regular catalog. and I used the Heart to Heart punch with the Red Glitter Paper for the small heart. I used several new Big Shot items as well - the new small Textured Impressions Embossing Folders - there are 3 patterns and one is the heart I used at the top of the Real Red piece. I also used the new Hearts Collection Framelits to cut the heart out after I stamped the image with Versamark and heat embossed it in Pewter. The new Framelits make it easy.

This second project uses the heart from the stamp set Floral Fillers - each heart is stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in White. The colors for this card are taken from the Sale-a-bration mini catalog DSP Everyday Enchantment - Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade as well as Basic Black. The accents are Black Brads and the black Scallop Dots Ribbon (using the back of the ribbon not the dotted side). The greeting is from Loving Thoughts from the Occasions Mini catalog stamped in Basic Black.

Hope you enjoy these Valentines and are inspired to make some for the special people in your life.

Keep Stamping,

Happy Heart Day!

Hi Stampers,

Hope that you are enjoying Valentine's Day this year. I'm enjoying the warmer weather and all the snow that's melting that's for sure.

Today's share was inspired by Dee, a talented friend and fellow demonstrator. I decided to use her idea to make a Valentine's Day card. This card uses the "Embedded Embossing" technique. For this card, I punched hearts with the Heart to Heart punch in Real Red and attached them to a piece of Basic Black. Then I ran the whole thing though the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder - a must have folder if you have the Big Shot! The Big Shot actually embeds the pieces into the Black cardstock. It's a great technique and you can use it for punched or stamp images. The greeting is from my go to set Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped in Real Red, punched with the Word Window punch and attached to a piece of Real Red punched with the Modern Label punch.

Hope you are enjoying Valentine's Monday!

Almost Valentine's Day...

Hi Stampers,

Glad that it's finally a little warmer around here and maybe some of the snow will melt in time for Valentine's Day.

Today I'm sharing something that I was inspired by this year's great Stampin' Up Catalog and Idea book to make - on page 174 there was a project using Christmas Cookie cutters. Well I was out shopping and saw these Valentine's Day cookie cutters and thought I could do the same thing. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest but it was tough to figure out where to take the pictures.

Anyway, these were really easy to make - I used the Love Impressions DSP from the Occasions Mini catalog. I found it was easier to attach the cookie cutter to the DSP using Crystal Effects and then cut around the cookie cutter to trim the DSP. Then I used the Crop-a-dile to punch two holes in the top of each one and threaded a ribbon through to hang them. I used Real Red Grosgrain and some silver Grosgrain which retired a while back.

With all the cookie cutters available and all the Stampin' Up DSP, there's no end to the ornaments you can come up with.

Enjoy the thawing snow this weekend!

Keep Stamping,

A Treat for Valentine's Day

Hi Stampers,

I was blog surfing last week and saw this treat holder which is perfect for Valentine's Day on someone's blog. It's a piece of Love Impressions DSP. You then use the Full Heart punch to punch the front of the DSP so you can see the treats inside, which are in one of the SU small cello bags. I found some Valentine's Day Jelly Beans that matched perfectly. I tied a piece of Red Satin ribbon around the heart cut out and then I added the owl, which is from the Sale-a-bration set Punch Bunch - this stamp set is the number one Sale-a-bration set, which you can get for FREE with a $50 order until March 31. I stamped the owl in Basic Gray and then punched it out with the owl punch. I used the red Glitter paper for the vest and a piece from the heart that I punched out for the owl heart. A very fun and easy project to make!

I hope that you have all dug out from the snow (although we keep getting more the last few days). Spring must be around the corner somewhere!

Keep Stamping,

Dawn Dickinson

Only one more week for the Filled with Love Bundle!

Hi Stampers,

Hope that everyone had a good weekend - we were lucky enough to have a 4 day weekend after finals at York. Of course, with the snow today I didn't go anywhere but it was nice to do some stamping instead of running errands.

I made this card today to feature the "Filled with Love Bundle" which is on sale for one more week until January 24 - you can click on the ad on the left and see all the details. For this card, I used the stamp set and DSP from the bundle as well as Whisper White, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink and Real Red. The squares of DSP are 1.25" - the DSP is 2 sided in both Pretty in Pink and Real Red. The heart in the greeting is punched with the small heart punch with the new Glimmer Paper in the Occasions mini catalog.

This set won't be available after January 24, so make sure you let me know asap if you'd like to order it. It's a great set for Valentine's Day or wedding cards.

Very Vintage

Hi everyone,

Very Vintage was the theme of my stamp camp last Friday night so I'm going to share one of the projects we made with you today. The theme fit very well with Valentine's Day, so several of the projects we made are filled with love including this one.

This card uses the very cute Greeting Card Kids stamp set. I stamped the girl in Stazon Black and on watercolor paper and used Blender Pens and stamp pads for watercoloring. To make the ruffle behind her, I took a strip of cardstock, punched it with the Scallop Trim border punch and then ran it through the crimper. Using Sticky Strip on the back of the image, it kind of ruffles as you go around - love this idea and I don't know what creative demonstrator thought of it but it's really easy to do. This card is also scored at 2.75" on the front. The colors are Real Red, Basic Black & Very Vanilla and I used Love Letters DSP on the side. I used another piece of Sticky Strip down the side with some of the Silver Glass Glitter, which is still available in this mini catalog. The Hugs & Kisses down the side are from All Holidays.

A Little Something for Valentine's Day!

Hello Stampers,

I thought I'd share one of the new dies for my favorite tool the Big Shot - this is the Milk Carton die. This sample is from a workshop that I did last weekend and is so easy to make.

I used Pretty in Pink cardstock and the Milk Carton die along with the Crease Pad for the Big Shot (this helps scored lines to only be scored and not cut on the Big Shot). After I ran it through the Big Shot I used the new I {Love} Love Jumbo Wheel in Real Red and the new Small Heart punch to decorate it. The Mini Library clips are great for holding the top closed after you've filled it with M&M's, Conversation Hearts or Jelly Bellys.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Valentine's Day Treat Box

Hi Stampers,

Thought I'd share another of the Fun Folds from last week's stamp camp. This easy to make treat box has been around for a while and I know I have another sample of it around somewhere, but I think it looks especially good for Valentines Day with the I {Heart} Hearts Set as well as the new Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit. The I {Heart} Hearts set is the one that Stampin' Up is donating $2 for each set sold to Haiti earthquake relief. So far this month, almost 7,500 sets have been sold! Anyway, this box is made by using a square piece of cardstock (this one is 9 X 9"). You score it into thirds both ways and then score a diagonal in each of the four corners. I decorated each of the 4 panels using Sending Love DSP, the Full Heart punch and the Embosslits in Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. I stamped the other hearts, cut them out and used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop them off the back heart. To close the box, you punch holes in the top of the sections and thread grosgrain ribbon through and tie it. The tag is made with Teeny Tiny wishes and the smallest heart from the I {Heart} Hearts set punched out with our new small heart punch. I punched the greeting with the Large Oval punch and the Scalloped Oval Punch. Fill it with candy and your're ready to give it to someone you love this Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is around the corner...

Hi Stampers,

While I'm busy preparing for this Friday's Fun Folds Stamp Camp, I thought I'd share another of my Wood Perpetual calendar inserts - this one is for Valentine's Day. Melon Mambo and Whisper White are the colors of cardstock and Ink. I used the Heart to Heart punch on the Whisper White and let the Melon Mambo show through - a great technique and so easy! Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon accents the hearts. I used the little heart from the Things I Love stamp set on either side of the Happy Valentine's Day, which is from my favorite greeting set Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped in Basic Black. This layout could easily be used for a card with either cardstock or DSP behind it for the punched out parts.

Now back to my stamp camp preparations!

More new stuff from the Mini Catalog!

Hi Stampers,

It is really cold here today and of course there is way too much snow on the ground - tired of it already and it's only January. But of course the weather being so cold means time to stay in and stamp!

Here's another sample using some more new stuff - the new small heart punch, Sending Love DSP and Real Red Satin Ribbon from the Occasions Mini catalog and the Scallop Trim Border punch from the SAB Mini. All of the hearts were punched from the same piece of Sending Love DSP - this DSP is great because it's a little heavier than regular DSP, still double-sided and has some bling - each of the pieces of DSP has glitter on one side of the paper. I used Kraft, Real Red and Very Vanilla cardstock and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. It was fun seeing how many different parts of the DSP I could use for the hearts. This DSP is Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla - perfect for Valentine's Day and beyond.

Stay warm!