Indigo Hope

Earlier this month, I was treated to a weekend retreat at my upline Janet Wakeland's home. 
She holds her RAD (Radical Achieving Demonstrator) retreat once each year and it was a wonderful break from all the busyness of the season. I was delighted to spend three days with other members of her team that I didn't know very well. 
I can honestly say that I made 11 new friends that weekend and we had a wonderful time stamping, crafting, eating and touring the Gettysburg area. 

Janet was so very generous and treated us to all sorts of fun things. I've added some photos below so you can have a peek at some of the fun we had. 
She also opened up her Craft World for us and we had free use of all her supplies, tools and samples. Today's card is one that I created there:

The base is Whisper White as well as the focal image piece and the greeting punch. I used the snowflake-ish design embossing folder from the Delicate Designs Pair to add an embossed border across the card front. 

I decided to use the Window Frames Framelits for the layers, cutting the middle layer with Island Indigo cardstock and adding an edge of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter with my 2 Way Glue Pen. 
The focal flower is from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set. I inked the entire image with Baja Breeze ink then added Island Indigo ink to the center and around the edges with a Sponge Dauber. Using my Blender Pen, I removed the ink from the flower stem and then colored it in again with a Garden Green Stampin' Write Marker. Once the image was stamped I then was able to cut it out exactly where I wanted by positioning the Window Frame Framelit over it and running it through the Big Shot. 
Our Framelits are awesome! They are like punches for the Big Shot! 
I added some more glitter to the flower to make it stand out - never too much glitter, right? 

Those layers were stacked with Stampin' Dimensionals and adhered onto the card front over a wrap of Baja Breeze Seam Binding. The greeting was stamped and punched out with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch then adhered with a dimensional and my sweet little bow was adhered on top. 
We made this card at my classes this month and it was a favorite to be sure.

Here are a few fun pictures from our weekend -
Thanks so much Jan for a wonderful time! 

Happy Stampin'!
~~Robin

Keep Calm and.....Be Fabulous!

Each year it's a challenge to come up with creative ideas for my daughter's birthday that DON'T involve Christmas.

Right smack dab in the middle of December, my beautiful baby girl was born. That single, wonderful event sent me on an endless hunt for party decorations that do not include the colors red and green!

I would purchase them earlier in the year, but when your child changes her mind about the kind of birthday theme she wants 5 times between September and December 1st, that's really a no go.
This year, I kind of forced the issue by finding some cool plates and napkins in the clearance rack at my local red spot store. They were funky pink plates that said "Keep Calm and Birthday On" with a little cake symbol at the top. Super cute and SO Emma. She's all into the British stuff these days (her favorite shoes are these Bobs that have the British Flag on them.
It was only natural that I would use our current Hostess stamp set Carry On to create her birthday card:

My color combo was Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette and Whisper White with Silver Embossing Powder.
I stamped the Distressed Dots background on the white cardstock in Pink Pirouette ink. The keep calm phrase was stamped in Basic Gray over that.

The little crown image was stamped in Versamark ink, then embossed with Silver and punched out with the 3/4" Circle Punch then popped up on a Stampin' Dimensional.
I got the "be" by using my Basic Gray marker on the first two letters of the Believe stamp image from the Snowflake Soiree stamp set. It's stamped on a scrap then punched out with my 1 1/4" Circle punch. I added some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter with my 2 Way Glue pen and a few Basic Rhinestones then it to was popped up on some dimensionals.

Some of you may not recognize the banner phrase. It's from a retired stamp set called Fabulous Flowers. Most people remember the stamp set because of the big ol' pouffy flower that was in it, but it also had a stamp that says "Dare to be Fabulous" - and that is why I will never part with it. We should all dare to be fabulous in our own way!
Anyway, I used my Melon Mambo marker on just the word fabulous then hand cut the banner with my Paper Snips. A little more glitter, another rhinestone then it was adhered to the card front with Glue Dots.
Fabulous!

Emma loved her card and she loved her birthday party - it's a big deal turning 15 and we wanted to make it special for her.
Sadly, Emma's birthday will now forever fall on a day that America will never forget for while we were celebrating another year of life for my child, 27 other families were grieving the loss of their children. I was finally able to write about this awful tragedy on my other blog - A Courageous Heart - last night. Here is the link to my thoughts if you'd like to read them: http://acourageousheart.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-i-am-thinking-about.html

As Emma and I were sitting here just now, she was reading my blog post while eating her breakfast. She said to me "Mom, from now on on my birthday, I want to make cupcakes for all the kids who got killed that day and hand them out. They won't ever get to celebrate another birthday and I want to do it for them."
Dear God, I love my child.

Blessings,
~~Robin

Scentsational Season Gift Tags Set

Christmas is a 'Scent'sational season!
I love this time of year and all the fun that goes into preparing for this season of giving

Earlier this year, I created a set of gift tags in an envelope as a project for my Trinity Design Stampers Team meeting and I'm pretty sure I forgot to share it with you - OOPS!
Anyway, it's closer to Christmas now and I know these gift tag ideas are right on time so maybe it was meant to be that way. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Here's the photo of the project:

This was SO simple!
The envelope was created with the Petite Pocket Die and my Big Shot out of the Early Espresso Co'ordinations cardstock. I ran the front flap through the Big Shot once more with my Woodgrain embossing folder. (be cautious that your Big Shot is not too tight, I flipped back both tabs for this one. The Woodgrain folder is a deep embossing one.) The envelope is sealed up on the sides with Sticky Strip tape.

I created the envelope closure with cardstock scraps, gold brads, Stampin' Dimensionals and some Baker's Twine. Really pretty simple. The star image is from the same stamp set as the tag images - Scentsational Season.

The tags are made with Very Vanilla cardstock and the Two Tags Die with my Big Shot. I simply cut off the bottom edge so they would all fit in the envelope. Each tag has a different image from the stamp set on it in a different color - Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Garden Green and Night of Navy.
The to/from stamp is from the Owl Occasions stamp set in the Holiday Mini as well.
Each tag has a string of Baker's Twine looped through the top for easy tying.
These could also be dressed up with glitter for some extra sparkle!

Hope you enjoyed this cute project today - now go stamp something fun!
~~Robin

12 x 12 on 12-12-12!

Once a month, I do a 12 x 12 scrapbook layout class.
This works out great for me because not only do I get to have fun stampers in my studio, but I get my own scrapbook pages done as well! LOL!
I thought it was appropriate to share a 12" x 12" layout with you today since it is 12-12-12!!


Today's layout is a cute Christmas one that can easily be adapted to ANY season. In fact, the original layout was one my friend Julie Salva did for a swap I participated in. I think hers was a birthday theme. I love the sketch/layout so much, I just used it for my Christmas pages.

Here's page one of my layout:

My color scheme came from the super cute Designer Series Paper - Snow Festival. It's in the Holiday Mini and you can still get it until January 2nd.

So, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals all combined here for our pages.
I stamped the snowflakes with the Snowflake Soiree stamp set - Baja Breeze ink on Baja Breeze cardstock; Cherry Cobbler ink on Cherry Cobbler cardstock and then I inked the small snowflake with the Illuminations Ink Pad and stamped those as accents over top of the other stamped images. I love how that ink shimmers in the right light - so cool!

The scalloped square element at the bottom left was done with the Big Shot and the Scallop Square Duo Die and Gumball Green cardstock. It's layered with Cherry Cobbler cardstock and one square from the cutest sheet of paper ever! There are two sheets of DSP in the Snow Festival pack that have 12 different 3" x 3" squares. They are perfect for cutting up and using on individual cards or in this case different page elements for our scrapbook pages.

The three borders are simply two strips of DSP and one strip of cardstock that I cut with my Big Shot and the Tasteful Trim Die.
Lots of glitter was added on the elements to make this page sparkle. I simply drew a line with the 2 Way Glue Pen where I wanted the glitter and sprinkled it on.

My page title was done with the Merry and Type Stamp set, the Decorative Label Punch and the Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Markers. I added a Vintage Button with some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine for a final touch.

Here is page two:

The tall panels are 8 1/2" x 4' strips of cardstock and DSP. I just adhered them to the Cherry Cobbler 12" x 12" cardstock and added more glitter down the seams.
The border was again cut with the Tasteful Trim Die and I added one of the Snow Festival Gift Tags for my journaling block.

These pages couldn't be more simple or fun! I can't wait to add some Christmas photos to them and put them in my book!

Here's a look at a couple of the products I used on the pages:

#126908 - Snow Festival Designer Series Paper $10.95

#128152 - Snow Festival Gift Tags  $3.95

#122552 - Merry and Type Stamp Set  $18.95 Clear mount

#127925 - Snowflake Soiree Stamp set $21.95

You can find all these products and more in my Online Stampin' Store.
Just visit this link here: Robin's Online Store
and click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner.
You can easily place your order and have your goodies shipped out to you right away so you're ready to scrapbook your Christmas ahead of time this year!

Have a wonderful day stampers - do something memorable - 12-12-12 is only gonna happen once!
Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

An Absolutely WOW! Card

I love my stampin' friends!

They are some of the most talented craftswomen I know - they provide me with so many great ideas that often, I don't have to create somethings completely from scratch for my stampers.

Today's card is a great example of that. Here, take a look:

The card on the right was created by my friend Kay Kalthoff from Minnesota. She's part of my GoDivas swap group and this was her WOW! Christmas card swap this year.

The card on the left is my version of Kay's card. As you can see, I didn't change much, just converted it into an easel card for my WOW Christmas Cards classes.

The card base is Early Espresso with a liner of Real Red. The easel stop is made of a thin strip of Silver Glimmer paper topped with the greeting from the Joyous Celebrations stamp set. It's popped up on a Stampin' Dimensional.

So many layers on this card front!
Shimmer White cardstock on top of the Early Espresso base; Silver Glimmer Paper and then the flocked Window sheet from the Candlelight Christmas Designer Series Paper pack.

The snowflakes are cut out of one piece of Shimmer White cardstock with the Snow Flurry Die. All three of them are layered together with Dimensionals, a 3/4" Circle punch of Silver Glimmer Paper and a Large Pearl embellishment.

I love the finished size of this card 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". Square cards are cool and still fit in our Medium Envelopes for regular mailing. This card is a little "thick" so you will probably need some extra postage, but it will be so worth it for the reaction you'll get on the other end!

Enjoy your day everyone - Happy Stampin'!
~~Robin

Remarkable Stamp of the Month Blog Tour - Affection Collection

Hello Stampin' Friends!
You've arrived at stop #12 on the Remarkables Stamp of the Month Blog Tour.
There are 15 stops in all, so if you've landed here first, then there's lots more ideas for this fantastic stamp set for you to see. Don't miss any of them!

I've created two cards for you all today and here is the first one:

The Affection Collection stamp set is super versatile - I love the variety of images and the shabby chic/vintage/rocker chic style really grabs me.
As I've shown here, you can make a  more contemporary card with a masculine edge.

My color scheme is Basic Gray, Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White.

I first stamped the oval image in Rich Razzleberry on the Whisper White cardstock then dry embossed over it with the Oval from the Designer Frames Folders and my Big Shot. A great way to highlight the image.
Next, I stamped the greeting on a scrap in Basic Gray and punched it out with the Modern Label Punch. It's popped up on some Stampin' Dimensionals (otherwise known as stampin' crack) and accented with some Basic Rhinestones.

Here's a better view of the inside and the top of the card:

I stamped the little flag image on a scrap and trimmed it out with my Paper Snips. It's popped up on more dimensionals over a flagged piece of the 1/2" Striped Satin Ribbon.
For a final touch, I used the Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker in my Color Spritzer Tool and spattered silver ink all over the card front and on the inside over the stamped corner. It gives the card a nice gleam and just the right amount of sumpthin'-sumpthin' in the white space.

And now for something completely different!
(You'll be chuckling right now at the Monty Python reference if you get it. heehee)
But really, this next card IS completely different:

From clean and contemporary to soft, layered shabby chic.
Here, I used Very Vanilla cardstock for my base layers, stamping the Distressed Dots background in Pink Pirouette ink on the top one. Then, I used the little swirly accent stamp from our featured stamp set and added a random pattern in Crumb Cake to the top section of the panel.
And before I forget, everything is sponged in Crumb Cake ink.

The layered strips are from the bottom:
Fan Fair Designer Series Paper punched with the Eyelet Lace Border Punch;
Pink Pirouette Patterns Designer Series Paper from the Subtles Stack (I just finger crunched it to make the ruffles and adhered it with Sticky Strip);
Primrose Petals Cardstock wet embossed with the Chevron Embossing Folder and Primrose Petals ink brayered into the top of the folder. That gives a cool two-tone textured look to the cardstock. This layer is also adhered with TWO pieces of Sticky Strip to make sure it stays in place over the paper ruffles.
I added a strip of Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon around the center of this layer as well. 

Here's a closer look at the greeting:

I inked the Love image in Crumb Cake ink, then used my Blender pen to remove the ink from the letters on the stamp. Then I colored back over them with the Primrose Petals Stampin' Write Marker - a super simple way to get a two tone image.
It's stamped on a scrap then punched out with the Decorative Label Punch and adhered with two Stampin' Dimensionals.
The sweet double bow is made with Crumb Cake Seam Binding and more Primrose Petals Satin Ribbon and adhered to the card front with Glue Dots.

I love both of these cards so much I had to ask my daughter which one to show first. She said to pick the one I love least. Umm, not possible.....

This stamp set along with the Basic Gray 1/2" Satin Ribbon are retiring on January 4th, so if you don't own it yet, you may want to rethink that now that you have this trove of ideas from the Remarkable Stampers.

Next stop on the tour is Maria Pane at Stampin' and Scrappin' with RiRi.
Just click the icon below to head over there.
Enjoy!
~~Robin

Get Ready - Another Remarkable Blog Tour is Coming!

Last month was the first month in a continuing series of Blog Tours by the RemARKable Stampers Team. Each month we will be bringing you a huge collection of creative ideas centered around one stamp set.

This month it will be the Affection Collection stamp set from the Holiday Mini. This super cool stamp set is NOT going to be available after January 4th, so if you've not added it to your collection yet, I highly recommend it.
Here's a look at the images in the set:

#127949 - Affection Collection $21.95

So, mark your calendars for this Sunday, December 9th.
All the posts will go live at 12:01 AM est.

See you then!
~~Robin

Gilded Ornament

Ever been shopping and see something you LOVE, and your first thought is "I can make THAT."
Yep, I do it all the time too, but honestly, when do we ever really go home and DO it?

Well, about 6 weeks ago, Emma and I were browsing through Kohl's and we stopped for a bit in the Christmas section. Yeah, Christmas was on display even then....

Anyway, here's the ornament that caught my eye:

Pretty, huh?
Well, I loved it, but I knew I could recreate it - with my own twist and some awesome SU! products.
So, here it is, what do you think?

Champagne Glimmer Paper, Crumb Cake Tulle and First Edition DSP all come together with a few other things to make an ornament that I can't wait to put on our tree.

I used the Music Standard Wheel on Brushed Gold cardstock and the greeting is from the Greetings of the Season stamp set. I used about 4 different adhesives on this ornament including my hot glue gun.
The secret to making it work is just layers, nothing particularly hard here - if you want to recreate it, just let your imagination be your guide - that's what I did!

Happy stampin',
~~Robin

WOW! Christmas Cards - Class Added

Ok, I caved.
I've added another class for these awesome cards!

Actually it's been on my calendar for a few weeks, but umm, well, I've been so swamped, I forgot to advertise it in my newsletter.
Yeah, I know, bad demonstrator!

Anywho - this class is taking place tomorrow (Tuesday, December 4th from 10 am - 3 pm)
It's $40 for 10 over the top - absolutely WOW Christmas cards and includes all your supplies, tasty treats AND a special bonus for all orders placed in the class.

I'm doing all the prep work today, so if you want to join us tomorrow, just shoot me an e-mail at stampwithrobin@yahoo.com and let me know. It'll be a cinch to add you to the fun!

Happy Stampin'!
~~Robin