Did I Have a Good Time in Sturgeon Bay?

As they say in Wisconsin, "You Betcha!"

Door County hospitality was first-rate, the stamping techniques were top-notch, and the Silver Stamper gathering was...well, intimate. "Bug" de Vos flew in from California, I flew in from New Jersey and Lynn and Denny Rick drove down from Minnesota. Shown is our group in front of the fireplace at the Bridgeport Resort.

The weather was unseasonably warm, which gave us a chance to explore the peninsula and enjoy some outings for meals and shopping. Saturday morning was very windy, as you can see by the white caps on the bay in the photo taken from the car. (click photo for a closer view.)

One of our activities for the weekend was a "Challenge" where we had to create something within a frame using only the stamps, papers, and embellishments provided. I'm so proud of Lynn, our Silver Stamper president, for taking FIRST PLACE with her Nostalgia Sisters design! All the entries were so well done, it truly was hard to pick one winner over all the others. Congratulations Lynn!!

I got home Sunday evening exhausted from the trip, but sooooo glad I went! The whole weekend was just filled with outstanding projects, new things to learn and wonderful people who saw to it that we all had a good time--and we did!

OFF TO WISCONSIN...

...FOR THE DOOR COUNTY RUBBER STAMPING ESCAPE WEEKEND! See you here with photos when I get back...

Ginger's Technique-Tuesday-Held-on-Wednesday Class

Evelyn, Mary and I took this class last night at Ginger's house, where Ginger "de-mystified" the techniques used to make these cards. The middle one is a slider card, and was the hardest to make; but it was well worth the effort (shown opened here.)

The red card is a shadow box card, which was easy to do once we saw how it was done. The autumn card is a tunnel card, and it was also easy to do. Could it be that it's just because Ginger is such a good instructor? (Thank you, Ginger!)

Evelyn is new at stamping--only a couple of weeks. She and Mary had stamped earlier in the day here at the Stamping Tower, and she's making fast progress. After admiring Evelyn's cards last night, Mary cracked us up when she said, "You're the only stamper I know who's gone from Beginner to Advanced in one day!"

Cuttlebug Poinsettia

It seems that no matter which Cuttlebug design you use (almost), if you use white cardstock, it looks elegant. The Poinsettia was watercolored, then coated with white twinkling H20's, with gold glitter added in the center. I cut out the middle petals and popped them out with foam tape, then glued it down over a piece of sheer white ribbon stapled underneath to the side of the oval. An appropriate verse or greeting can be stamped on a lighter cardstock, as shown here, with the embossed cardstock placed over it.

Christmas Card Surprise

The surprise is on me, since I didn't really like this stamp at first. I guess I just didn't know what to do with it. So I started with coloring it, then added stickles and a tree brad for the "A" and mounted it on metallic gold paper. I tied a gold cord around it, but then what? It was too small for the card, leaving a lot of empty dark space. Since I had a sheet of trees already stamped, I cut one out, added gold brads, popped it out below the main image and voila--I have a card!

Even though I like it now, it's going to be one of a kind since there are too many steps to mass produce it.


(Unfortunately, the scanner doesn't do the bling justice!)

SHIMMERING CHALKS

You can't see the shimmer, unfortunately, but this card was enhanced in a subtle way with Shimmering Chalks on the flowers. I ordered them over the internet from An Angel's Art in St. Paul, MN and was very impressed with the way they were packed and shipped. They arrived without so much as a hairline crack in any of the chalks!

AUTUMN THANKS

Here are two cards I recently made to use as thankyous for the birthday cards I received.

The card on the left was done with a maple leaf stamp and coordinating punch. The DP underneath has maple leaves, one of which shows through the punch. The stamped ones are colored with sponged fall-colored inks and then spritzed with a brown ink "blow gun" (as I call them.) The oak leaves were done the same way, except for the punch. Both have light green cardstock beneath, tilted on the maple leaf card. The ribbons on the left are two different Martha Stewart Halloween ribbons (plain) and the one on the right I pulled from my ribbon drawer.

These were really easy to make and will serve well for my thankyous!

(Click on the photo for a closer look...)

World Card Making Day

Today was my workshop, and it was quite a disappointment. Several of the people who said they would be here never showed. Maybe because it was such a beautiful day to be outside???

Those who did attend found the cards easy to make and were delighted to go home with so many ready to mail. They even stamped the envelopes to match!

Scroll down to the Oct. 1 post to see the cards we made.

TFL!

October: My Favorite Month

Don't you just love this time of year? Warm days, cool nights, explosion of color!

This card was made using some background paper that I found in the bottom of my drawer...must be at least 4 or 5 years since I put it there! Unfortunately, the scanner doesn't do it justice. The leaves and swirls are outlined in gold, and the gold-embossed leaf is colored with glimmering chalks. As you can see, I finally found a scalloped oval punch (and also a scalloped circle) which I found at Amazon.com, of all places.

I'm enjoying sunny days in my stamping tower with my loyal cat for company!

Tuesday Stamping Class

This week at our Ladies Bible Study "fun" elective (a card-making class) we made 3 variations of this card suitable for sympathy or encouragement. "Refuge and Strength" from Stampin' Up has some really nice sayings to stamp over the cross, and this verse is my favorite from that set. For the inside, I shared my collection of Bible verses and other sayings for the class to use. One of our members has been out sick for quite awhile, so we decided to shower her with our cards to let her know she is missed.

Stamping is more than just a hobby for me. I consider card-making in particular a way to minister to others, especially these days when letter-writing seems to be a lost art.

World Card-making Day Is Almost Here!

October 6 has been designated as World Card-Making Day. Does anyone know by whom??? Surely not Hallmark!

Anyway, it's as good an excuse as any to host a workshop. I've designed some Fall and Christmas cards for my fellow stampers to make. The Christmas ones are all done with peg stamps from Rubberstamp Tapestry. It was a challenge to vary them so they didn't all look alike.

The Thanksgiving card could also be used as a Fall birthday card by changing the wording on the front. It is a "kickstand" card using the "Give Thanks" set from SU, and we'll be using colored pencils for the apples and the pail. Stampers will be making 4 autumn cards and 2 each of the Christmas cards, for a total of 10 cards for $10.

I'm looking forward to seeing what variations they come up with!