I saw this card on a display board last Saturday.  It was made with the ever-popular 125535 Mixed Bunch Stamp Set and the 115370 Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set.  What intrigued me was that the flower image was embossed with 109132 White Embossing Powder on 101856 White Vellum Cardstock.  Then it was punched out with the 125603 Blossom Punch.

The 117154 Regals Collection Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack was punched with the 119865 1-1/4" Square Punch and used the 119871 3/16" Corner Punch on opposite corners.

A very striking card layout!

Tags: Punches, Stamping

My demonstrator friend, Jennifer W., shared this card with me last weekend.  She created it with the 125495 Bright Blossoms and 122495 Petite Pairs Stamp Sets, along with the 125409 Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.  I love her attention to detail by adding the flower punches from the 118309 Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  And to add some bling to this card, she used the 119246 Basic Rhinestones, which she colored with a permanent marker.  Thanks for sharing Jen!

Here we go again.  Some creative soul figured a most unusual way to use the 125535 Mixed Bunch Stamp Set and matching 125603 Blossom Punch.  They made a dress.  I shook my head in disbelief the first time I saw this card.

The bodice of the dress is made with the 119864 Round Tab Punch and the 119869 1/2" Circle Punch.  The skirt of the dress is made with two Blossom Punches.

 The background on this card was heat embossed with 101930 Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder.

 Very clever!!!

Tags: Punches, Stamping

While I was at my weekend retreat, I had to get 140 invitations done using a retired stamp set called Fishy Tales.  These invitations are for a volunteer appreciation dinner at my church.  The theme is Under the Sea, so this stamp set worked perfectly.  Any one who knows me, knows that I go a bit crazy having to mass produce the same project.  Here are some tips that help me keep sane.

1.  Don't design a complicated card.  Keep it simple.

2.  Try to use punches.  Punches are faster to use than cutting cardstock.  I made the custom wording on the outside card on the computer and made sure it fit in the 119849 Modern Label Punch.  I also used the 119868 1" Circle, 119861 1-1/4" Circle and 119860 1-3/8" Circle Punches.

3.  Cut all the cardstock at the same time and keep in piles.

4.  Stamp all the same images at the same time and keep in piles.

5.  Punch all the same images at the same time and keep in piles.

 6.  The fastest way to put this card together was to take all the punches from a pile and adhere them on all the card fronts.  Some people may think it is faster to adhere one from each pile and have the entire outside of the card done.  I don't find that true for me.  Though, I sometimes do that to change it up a bit.  But then I got back to what I was doing before.

7.  Take frequent breaks.  Taking a break is energizing and clears my mind.  I come back to the project with a better attitude.

8.  I like to put the cards in piles of 25.  Part of the game I play in my mind is to just focus on the pile of 25, not the piles of 140.  That is too overwhelming to me.  A little at a time and pretty soon you are done with your project.

And here is a happy me on Sunday morning hold the last two cards, plus 138 more.  I ran out of one color of cardstock, so I used a different color.  I did have two computer printed panels to put inside each of these cards.  A big sigh of relief to be done!

Tags: Punches, Stamping

My downline, Deb, made this card for the Shoebox Swap for my Stampin' DIVA Day.  She was so nice to have prepunched everything and put into packets for everyone on my team to make this Easter Bunny card. 

Deb printed her own Designer Series Paper by using 118108 My Digital Studio software.  She used the 105021 White uni-ball Signo Gel Pen for the eyes and the 100082 Black Stampin' Marker next to the eyes.

Punches Used:

119847 Ornament

119855 Large Oval

118074 Owl Builder

119859 XL Oval

119849 Modern Label

Such an adorable bunny!

Tags: Big Shot, Easter, Punches