The Stampin' Up! Color Coach

I wonder if I am the only one? When I was younger and my mom would get one of those rings with all of the color cards on it, for kitchen counter tops I think, I really wanted to HAVE one. She also would have the paint swatch ones that have the different hues, and I would fan it out and play with it. Well, the new SU! Color Coach has an aesthetic similar to those nifty little things that my mom used to have, and I LOVE it!!

With the NEW SU! Color Coach, you can pull out one color here, another color there, and make up your own color combinations. OR, flip it over and you can look at the suggested color combinations on the backs of the cards. Each color has two color combinations on the back and about 97% of the colors also have a dynamic duo listed on the back as well. So far, I haven't noticed any duplicate color combinations either, so when you like a color in one combo and look up that color and flip it over, the combos on the back of it are not the same as the one you just came from.

You can see the SU! Color Coach in 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog on page 165 or online by visiting my SU! website by clicking HERE.

Where am I going with this? Well, I use the color coach all of the time when I need some color inspiration, and this month Shelli Gardner's Creative Challenge was to use the color coach to come up with a combination for a project. You can check out Shelli's Creative Challenge HERE. Next, I thought I would explain the evolution of the card and then share the picture with you.

I decided that I wanted to use one of the new colors, and when I had my Color Coach in front of me with the colors all fanned out, my eyes gravitated to Cajun Craze. It's kind of the "replacement" for Really Rust, and I really like it, but didn't have any ideas in mind so I flipped it over and looked at the combinations listed on the back of the card. It listed: Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Baja Breeze, or Cajun Craze, Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke. The dymanic duo that it showed was Cajun Craze and Tangerine Tango. So...as I sat there and looked at the combinations, I really gravitated towards the top one which was Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Baja Breeze. Any of you that have followed my blog for a while know that I LOVE Baja Breeze. So much so that my walls in my living room and family room are painted in it (you can see it sometimes in the background of some of the pictures I take of my cards). I didn't have any Old Olive handy though, and being lazy I decided to substitute Wild Wasabi for it. Next, I made my stamp choice, and I decided to use the Funky Four stamp set. As the name indicates, there are four little mushrooms, so I just had to add in a fourth color - Daffodil Delight. I didn't count the Crumb Cake (card base) as part of the combo because it's from the Neutrals family ;)

As for the details of the card, I colored the mushrooms with my Stampin' Write Markers. I colored an extra flower that is one the second mushroom from the left, stamped it, punched it out and added a little pearl for some bling. I added the little flower embellishment to the side of the sentiment and think it looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself ;) The recipe is below and I hope that you have a fabulous weekend!!!

All items used are SU!

Stamps: Funky Four, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and Whisper White CS
Ink: Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi and Early Espresso Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: 3/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearl Jewels, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Clear-Mount Blocks

Just a little hoot....

I just love the new 2-Step Owl punch from Stampin' Up! It makes for really quick, cute embellishments on cards, scrapbook pages, gift items, or whatever you want an owl on! I kept this one simple, but as usual there had to be some paper piercing.

Just to let everyone know, I'm not going to be unrealistic and say that with all that I have going on I'll be able to post every day, but my goal is to post Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week. I don't know if more than 2 people even still check my blog, but hopefully this will give you your "Marie fix" :) He he he.

Hope you have a great Friday!

All items used are SU!

Stamps: Apple Blossoms (Hostess Level 2)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White CS, Concord Crush Textured CS, Brights (Daffodil Delight) Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, ruler, Paper Piercing Tool, Template and Mat, 2-Step Owl Extra-Large punch, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Clear-Mount Blocks

With Sympathy...

This isn't a traditional sympathy card, but I really liked that phrase that was in the Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3) stamp set. My husband's cousin recently lost her 4-year-old son in a tragic drowning accident. I wanted to send her a note to let her know that she and her family are in our prayers. I wasn't able to attend the funeral, but have heard from family members that the mother spoke at her son's funeral, and that she has shown such faith and a testimony in her Savior and Heavenly Father that everyone is comforted to know that even in such grief, she is strong and has the knowledge of the loving arms wrapped around her by her Father in heaven. I can't even imagine what she is going through. My own children are 7, 6 (well, in 2 weeks anyway!) and 3. I just can't imagine.....

I decorated the inside with a VERY subdued image that perhaps you can get the idea of in the picture below. I was inspired by a card on Stampin' Connection made by Ilina Crouse where she made her own interpretation of a card that SU! Convention 2010 participants got to make.

All items are SU!

Stamps: Just Believe, Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Paper: Concord Crush, Old Olive and Whisper White CS
Ink: Concord Crush Stampin' Write Marker, Old Olive classic ink
Accessories: Clear-Mount Blocks, Concord Crush 1/2" Stitched-Poly ribbon, Basic Pearl Jewels, Paper Piercing tool, template and mat

I'm Baaaaack.....

Sort of :) I actually stamped two cards the other day (one is below, but I'm "hiding" it beneath a long post). I am sharing one of them today and then the other I'll share in my next post. I made this card for a very good friend for her birthday. I looked at my calendar at 11:20 pm last night and realized that I had lost track of what day it was with the hubby gone, the kids still on summer break, and my Master's class in full swing. I don't really have any need to know the actual date. So, after looking at the calendar I realized that her birthday (and mine - the day after hers) are in the next day or two. So unfortunately I am a terrible, slacker friend and she won't get the card in time. Sorry Melissa!! Oh, and don't continue reading if you don't want to see your card ;)

To tell you a bit about the card, I really wanted to use the new Apple Blossoms set and THIS old card of mine kept popping into my head as a potential rough layout to use. I also wanted to use only "new" colors (you'll see why I put "new" in quotes in a second), so I used Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight and Cherry Cobbler. As the card base and on the little punched out shape behind the sentiment, I used the "new" Crumb Cake (which to me looks just like the old Kraft CS, but I haven't actually compared the two side-by-side yet to see but it does for a fact replace the former Kraft CS in the SU! inventory).

Anyway, as you'll see below (sorry, I am typing a lot so that Melissa won't see the card right away if she checks my blog and hasn't gotten the card yet) it's a fairly simple card. The pattern on the Marina Mist CS at the bottom of the card was made using one of the stamps in the Apple Blossom set.

I tried out something new and used SU!'s glue-stick to adhere the ribbon to the CS. I REALLY like how flat it lays on the card using the glue-stick, and none of the glue goes through the ribbon, and you don't see little glue dot shapes, or anything like that. I recommend this technique to those that want their ribbon to really lay flat. It works well with the stain ribbons. I don't know that it would work as well with grosgrain or other more bulky/textured ribbons though.

So, without any more stalling, here it is:


All supplies are SU!

Stamps: Apple Blossoms
Paper: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake and Whisper White CS
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight Classic Ink
Accessories: Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Clear Acrylic Blocks, Marina Mist Satin ribbon, linen thread, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stamps in the Mail...

...is coming to a mailbox near you! Don't miss out on this great program!

Stamps in the Mail (SIM) is something that I have been doing for several years (click HERE to see some of my past cards/projects), and this year I have established a price of $50 per kit ($35 in merchandise, and $15 for shipping from SU! to me, and me to you, and the cost of some of the consumables) for this round. The round will go from Aug-Nov.

You will need to sign up by e-mailing me, and I will send out all the details to those who join on August 2nd. Your check will need to be in my hands by August 15th. The kit will then arrive in your mailbox no later than the end of the first week in September (it all depends on how quickly the items get to me from SU!), and this will continue all the way through November (with November's kit arriving no later than the end of the first week of December).

I will include some pictures in the next couple of weeks of some cards I make using the stamp set we will be using for August's kit. They are NOT what will be in the kit, but will give you an idea of some of the ways we might use the stamp set. It is a STUNNING stamp set. What is it, you're wondering? Well, the stamp set is "Just Believe" (pg. 109, item # 120453, $25.95 for clear-mount) which is pictured below.

The contents of the kit are flexible. If you already have any of the items on the list for a particular month's kit, simply substitute for like-priced merchandise. You don't even have to go with the clear-mount stamps that I list and can add the difference to purchase the traditional wood-mount stamp set if you would prefer.

Build your supply of stamping items. Each month you will get approximately $35 (could be more) worth of stamps, inks, card stock, papers, and other embellishments and tools. It's a great way to slowly add to what you have.

Creativity at your fingertips! Are you ever stumped and need help getting inspired? Use the kit contents to create the 4 projects included for that month, and then take the provided sketches, directions, photographs, tutorials and tips to create even more projects with your new Stampin' Up! products!

Organized and ready to stamp! All of the items that you need to recreate the four projects are individually packaged and other than common supplies (certain ink colors, adhesives, cutting tools, etc.) you will be able to open up a bag, stamp and assemble the contents, and you're done!

The more, the merrier! Get your friends to join and have a girls' night of stamping fun. Not only will it make it more enjoyable to get together with your friends, but you will also get a FREE Classic ink pad of your choice for getting a friend to join (who is not on my SU! mailing list).

What are you waiting for?!?!? E-mail me today (mariemc01@gmail.com) and get on the list for the next round which begins in August. The checks will be due to me by August 15th and I will place the order that day. I expect the turn-around to you to be that you have your SIM kits no later than one week after I receive the order from SU! More instructions and kit contents will be e-mailed out to those that sign up on August 2nd.

I look forward to sharing the beauty of this and other stamp sets with you over the next 4 months!!

July Projects

Well, I hope to do some stamping soon, but tweaked my back today moving some furniture with my husband. I guess that's what a 1-foot height difference does to you when you're on the "short end of the stick" and you're lifting heavy furniture with a person that's not short ;)

So, for now, enjoy these featured July projects from SU!

Happy Stampin'!





Thanks to Michelle Laycock for putting the code to these (along with a lot of the side-bar buttons that I use!!). She designs fabulous layouts for blogs, if you're a blogger....

It's HERE!!!

Today is the day that you can begin ordering products from the NEW 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog. Click HERE to view the catalog.

To order products from the new catalog, click HERE and then click on the "Shop Now" box in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.

Happy stampin'!

Marie