The Stampin' Bean: March 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Celebrating PSA Essentials...plus a Giveaway!

Today PSA Essentials is celebrating with a Designer Past and Present Blog Hop and I was so flattered to be included in this fun event. If you are here from the fabulous Julia Aston's blog, you are in the right place. If you get side-tracked, simply check out the blog list at the end of this post and get hoppin'!
I wanted to share my favorite project that I created using PSA Essentials, which was a wine-country wedding ensemble.

I began by choosing a central image that I would focus on that would tie everything together, along with a color scheme. I fell in love with this elegant bee image from PSA Essentials's Country Home set. I'm pretty old-school when it comes to weddings, so I wanted an elegant look. I love how lush and green a winery looks in summertime and paired some green with a rich cream for my colors.

I also created a coordinating 'thank you' card for the bride and groom to use after the event, continuing the bee image, which I stamped and punched out with an oval punch. The threaded ribbon, too, is repeated throughout, as is the lovely dry-embossed background of swirls and flourishes.

As this "wedding" takes place on a gorgeous vineyard in Napa Valley, I thought it only fitting that the table toppers be wine bottles, which would be easy to cover with the same image and embossed cardstock and ribbon as I have going already. The place cards match as well, and I found these cute memo holders, which I simply covered with coordinating cardstock.

My final reception piece is a favor box (always a favorite item at a good party!), which I created with a baker's box die from Lifestyle Crafts out of the green cardstock and added the couple's names and the date of the event, complete with the elegant bee and ribbon for each guest to take home. What is inside you might be asking? Well, you'd have to be a guest at this wine country wedding to find out, but my vote would be for chocolate!

Didn't I mention a giveaway? Well, PSA Essentials is giving away of 1 custom stamp, 3 Peel & Stick stamp sets, 2 notecards, 1 alignment tool, 1 black ink, 1 2-color ink, and free shipping (a $150 value!) To enter, simply visit the PSA Stamp Camp blog HERE.

Now, continue on to the uber-talented Jennifer Ingle's blog to continue the hop!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: bee image from Country Home set (PSA Essentials)

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!); Classic Cream ( Neenah)

Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko)

Dies: Bakery Box (Lifestyle Crafts)

Tools: Creative Station (Xyron); Oval Punch (EK Success); Hole Punch (Fiskars)

Fibers: Green Satin (Ellen Hutson)

Templates: Flourish Textured Impression Plate (Sizzix)

Font: Edwardian Script (microsoft)

Blog Hop Line Up:

·PSA Stamp Camp: www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com

·Jamie Green: http://jamie-thegreenefamily.blogspot.com/

·Shelly Kurth: http://shelly-sweetgreetings.blogspot.com/

·Jeanne Streiff: http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

·Anthonette Chavez: http://chavezdesigns.blogspot.com/

·Julia Aston: http://createwithjulia.blogspot.com/

·Regina Mangum: http://www.thestampinbean.blogspot.com/

·Jennifer Ingle: http://justjingle.blogspot.com/

·Ginger Snap Crafts: http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/

·Cherished Bliss: http://cherishedbliss.com/

·Mad In Crafts: http://www.madincrafts.com/

·PSA Stamp Camp: www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Good Times with TE and Doodlebug

I had the recent pleasure of getting to play along with the Baker's Dozen at Taylored Expressions and work with some fun new products from Doodlebug Design. I used the fresh and colorful collection, Fruit Stand, to create a happy little card. I loved the juicy red apple in the patterned paper and so I got out my Falling for You set from TE and paper-pieced the wheelbarrow and apple images. I also used one of my favorite dies, Label Stacklets 3, for a pretty frame, which I threaded with Doodlebug ribbon.

This card is going to a friend of mine who is just an all around nice person. I think she'll be nicely surprised and isn't that what card-making is all about?

Be sure to visit Taylor's blog for more Doodlebug and Taylored Expressions inspiration!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Falling For You (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper, Stickers, Ribbon, Pearls: Fruit Stand collection (Doodlebug)

Cardstock: white, pink, red, green (Stampin' Up!)

Accents: liquid pearls (Adirondak)

Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic), white gel pen (Sakura)

Dies: Label Stacklets 3

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Imaginisce & Xyron Easter Hop!...and a Giveaway!

My teammates at Imaginisce had the fun chance to create Easter projects using some cool products from Xyron. Easter is such a fun holiday to create things for and I wanted to create a special card for my little guy. He is big on the hunt for Easter eggs, so I wanted to make him a card that featured an Easter basket.

There were a lot of little pieces involved, so I was glad to have the Xyron glue stick on hand and the Mega Runner was so great for putting together larger pieces without the mess of traditional glue.

I used B-side patterned paper from the Childhood Memories collection, plus a wee bit of Hippity Hop that I was hoarding. I also took the darling carrot, bunny, and chick from some Sticker Stackers and added them to my "hoppy" little scene.

BEAN NOTES

Patterned Paper: (from Childhood Memories and Hippity Hop collections) Imaginisce; Accents: (Hippity Hop Sticker Stackers) Imaginisce, (Stickles) Ranger; Dies: (Doily Frame) Lifestyle Crafts, (A Tisket a Tasket, Whimsy Alpha) Taylored Expressions; Fibers: (gingham) May Arts; Cardstock: (green, pink, cream) Stampin' Up!

I hope you enjoyed my Easter project! Be sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog for more Easter inspiration from our team and Xyron -- we're giving away 2 collections (Endless Summer and Childhood Memories)!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Memorable Birthday

There are a lot of birthdays coming up in our family and I thought I'd try to get ahead and make some simple, pretty birthday cards to get a jump on all those celebrations. I reached for this month's Stamp of the Month set, Make it Memorable, from Taylored Expressions, which has such lovely images.

I paired the set with the coordinating March Key Ingredients paper -- and let the patterned paper do the work for me.

Sometimes, when I want to add just a little accent to an otherwise simple card, I take some glitter glue and place dots of sparkle within a stamped image. It's amazing what such a tiny bit of attention will do to a card. Liquid dimensionals also work really well for this, but if you are a little worried about keeping a stead hand, glitter glue (like Stickles) is very forgiving!

BEAN NOTES:

Stamps: Make It Memorable (March Stamp of the Month from Taylored Expressions); Cardstock & Patterned Paper: from March Key Ingredients Kit by Taylored Expressions); Ink: Early Espresso, Rose Red, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Accents: Diamond Stickles (Ranger), brads (generic); Dies: Make it Memorable coordinating dies (Taylored Expressions)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Endless Summer

My Imaginisce teammates and I are having a ball this week celebrating the new collection, Endless Summer! I have two projects to share today and I hope they have you dreaming of summer sunshine!

It's been such a cold winter for so many of my friends, I was especially glad to see the warm, bright, happy colors in the Endless Summer collection. I thought I would create a card for one of my good friends still weathering the winter in the northeast to help warm her up and get her dreaming about summer.

I adore the darling sun Snag 'Em stamp and thought it would make the perfect focal point for a happy card. I stamped the image twice, once on yellow and again on orange cardstock. To get more dimension, I used foam tape to pop up the smiling face and snipped in between all the rays before bending the solid ones forward. Adding the "sunshine" sentiment stamp and some glitter made the whole thing pop off the patterned paper!

My little rugrat has been learning how to swim and I've been waiting for the perfect collection to use to help me capture his experience. The wave paper from Endless Summer was just the ticket.

I had a great underwater photo as well as one of him earning a ribbon. It was tricky using two such different photos, but I solved my dilemma by placing the swimming photo behind vellum. I also placed some of the patterned wave paper behind vellum as well, which gave the otherwise simple layout some interesting design elements.

I love the chipboard stickers from this collection and the words "Live, Love, Swim" made for a terrific title. For a final accent to the page, I used the one of my i-Top punches to create these little elements, which reminded me of "paddle wheels."

BEAN NOTES

Snag 'Em Sunshine Card

Patterend Paper: (Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Cardstock: (orange, yellow, white) Stampin' Up!; Stamps: (sun and "sunshine" from Endless Summer); Dies: Cloud Border, Cloud Duo (Taylored Expressions), label die (Stampin' Up!); Accents: (stickles, liquid pearls) Ranger; Ink: (white hybrid) PTI

Live Love Swim Layout

Patterend Paper: (Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Cardstock: (green, orange red) American Crafts; Dies: (alphabet) Lifestyle Crafts; Tools: (i-Top Paper Punch) Imaginisce; Stickers: (chipboard stickers from Endless Summer collection) Imaginisce; Specialty Paper: (vellum) PTI; Fibers: (embroider floss) generic; Accents: (Mister Huey) Studio Calico

I hope you enjoyed my projects today! Be sure to visit the Imaginisce blog this week for lots of Endless Summer eye candy!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Lucky You!

This week, my fellow teammates at Imaginisce are cooking up some St. Patrick's Day inspiration!

St. Patty's Day is always a fun holiday -- though in our house it's really more about another excuse to eat chocolate! I wanted to create a fun little card to give to my son, who is a choco-holic. I began by choosing some fun (and green, of course!) patterned paper from the Childhood Memories collection and die-cut my card base.

Then I created a "pot o' gold" by simply punching out an oval from some black cardstock and adhering a trimmed oval piece -- I filled it with some metallic Glam Rocks and added a die-cut rainbow. The alpha stickers were just perfect for my "Lucky You" sentiment, which I thought was a fitting accompaniment to the shiny gold "coin" hidden inside the card!

BEAN NOTES

Patterend Paper: (Childhood Memories collection); Fibers: (green/white twine) The Twinery; Cardstock: (black, white) Stampin' Up!; Stickers: (alphabet from Childhood Memories); Dies: Tuck & Close Notecard, rainbow from Sunny Days (Taylored Expressions); Accents: (metallic Glam Rocks); Tools: (i-Rock), Oval Punch (EK Success); Other: (chocolate coin) generic

I hope you enjoyed my lucky ducky card today. Be sure to check out the Imaginisce Blog this week to see how else you can get your Irish on!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Taylored Expressions March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

I am really thrilled to be a part of today's Taylored Expressions March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you've hopped over from the uber-talented Monika Davis's blog, you are in the right place. If you ever get off track, just follow the link list at the end of this post...you'll want to because TE is giving away a fabulous prize to celebrate the debut of Stamp of the Month! THE PRIZE: a March Deluxe Key Ingredients kit, which includes the stamp set we are using today, plus the March Key Ingredients kit! Keep reading for details on how to win this fun prize.

Every month, Taylored Expressions will release a new, exclusive stamp set as part of its Stamp of the Month Club. Each set is designed to coordinate with that month's Key Ingredients kit (patterned paper, coordinating cardstock, and ribbon), so you've pretty much got everything you need to create some gorgeous projects. This month's set, Make it Memorable, is stunning, and I couldn't wait to play.

There are also coordinating dies (sold separately), which you can see here.

I wanted to make a thank you card -- they are still my favorite kind of card to make -- and I stamped the solid floral image, keeping things simple with a pretty die-cut doily. I love how the sentiments fit so perfectly inside the pretty frame.

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Make it Memorable (Taylored Expressions); all patterned paper and cardstock from March Key Ingredients (Taylored Expressions); Dies: Large Layering Doily (Taylored Expressions); Accents: Pearls (Kaisercraft); Ink: Rose Red, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!)

PRIZE INFO

We're giving away a March Deluxe Key Ingredients to one lucky winner! The winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments left on our blogs between now and Thursday evening at 9pm PST. The more comments you leave the better chance you have of winning! The winner will be announced on Taylor's Blog on Friday, March 15th. What are you waiting for? Hop along to check out the rest of the fabulous inspiration and leave your comments:

Regina Mangum (you are here!)

Friday, March 8, 2013

Taylored Expressions March Spotlights: From My Window

Today is Taylored Expressions' March Spotlight Day and I have two cards to share with you today. It is Designer's Choice today, so I chose to work with the newly released stamp set, From My Window, as well as some new TE dies and cutting plates, Arched Window, Chevron Cutting Plate, and Banner Stacklets 2!

For my first card, I really wanted to the arched window to be the focus and I was so taken with the wonderful starry sky view. I wanted to create something dreamy, and so I sponged some white ink over some deep purple cardstock using a cloud border as a stencil.

Good friends of ours just bought a new house and I wanted to make them a card to help them celebrate.

I deliberately left the stamped image of the neighborhood uncolored as I liked the crisp, clean look of the card created by the Chevron Cutting Plate.

The new Banner Stacklets 2 just happens to perfectly frame this pretty window, which has quickly become one of my all-time favorite dies!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: From My Window (Taylored Epressions); Cardstock: all cardstock from Stampin' Up!; Dies: Arched Window, Banner Stacklets 2, Chevron Cutting Plate, Cloud Border (Taylored Expressions)

Please be sure to visit the Baker's Dozen and their wonderful blogs for more projects that are sure to inspire you!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Taylored Expressions March Release Day: Instant ((HUGS))!

It's Release Day at Taylored Expressions! I was lucky enough to get to play with some of TE's newest dies today, and I have a fun card to share with you.

My little rugrat loves monsters (but only the cute kind) and he also has recently discovered a love for taking photos!

Here is one he took of my husband and I recently:

My little guy is 5, so I thought this was pretty good!

Well, I wanted to make him a special card combining two of his loves. TE just released the Instant Photo Frames and Film Strip Border dies and I had an absolute ball adding little fiends from one of my favorite sets, Love Monsters.

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Love Monsters (Taylored Expressions); Dies: Instant Photo Frames, Film Strip Border (Taylored Expressions); all cardstock by Stampin' Up; Accents: black glaze pen (Sakura); Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)

I hope you'll visit the Baker's Dozen blogs to check out more Release Day fun. All the new products can be found in the Fresh Out of the Oven department in the TE Store!