Monday, November 30, 2015

WWYS #40: White Christmas

It's What Will You Stamp Monday again and this week we've got a White Christmas challenge for you! This week I decided to go small and make a couple of 3"x3" cards. These are so great when you want to write someone a quick note and a tag is just not quite enough. I always make sure I have a stash of Stampin' Up! 3"x3" envelopes as they make it easy to complete these cute little cards. 


For this card I used quite a few of the stamps from this set. I love that this set allows you create different scenes by piecing them together the way that you like. 


I followed up my stamping by adding a little color with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker and... DRUM ROLL please!! Wink of Stella in clear! Never heard of Wink of Stella? I hadn't either until just recently but check out my amazing little snowman-See all of that beautiful shimmer? That's the magic of Wink of Stella and it's coming soon in Stampin' Ups! 2016 Occasions Catalog. I've used Clear here and it will also be available in gold! 


I stamped the inside of card and topped if off with a cute little bird. Here's the whole White Christmas set. So many fun little stamps to use!

If you're interested in seeing some more amazing projects using this set be sure to head on over to What Will You Stamp to see what the rest of our design team has made. While you're there I hope you'll decide to join us and enter one of your own amazing projects for a chance to be our guest designer in an upcoming challenge. I can't wait to see what you will make! Until then have an amazing week and I will see you soon!
-Maria 


Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Bear Hugs: I Love You This Much!

Here's another sneak peak card from a stamp set called Bear Hugs. This set will be available in January with the release of the 2016 Occasions Catalog. This is the baby bear from the set and it's pretty darned adorable. I heat embossed this cute little bear in Early Espresso and then watercolored him. I love that he looks like he just can't wait to hug you as he shows you how big he loves you! Too cute!

This is a perfect card for me today because my poor son has the stomach flu. He is such a trooper! He has been sick all night and he just doesn't complain. I keep looking at him laying so sick in his bed and I just feel, "I love you this much (SO MUCH!)!" I wish I could take all the yuck away for him. I'm sure I'll have my turn soon enough since the stomach flu is pretty contagious but that's ok. I think he's finally heading in the right direction and I am so glad about that! He deserves lots of bear hugs right now!


What do you think? Is this set on your "must have" list yet? What are some of your favorites? Anything you would like to see more of? If so, let me know! 
Have an awesome day everybody and I hope you are all staying healthy!
-Maria

Monday, November 16, 2015

New Stamp Sets! Bear Hugs and Sunburst Sayings!

Woohoo! The hour has finally come when the gag order is lifted and we can share some of the info we learned at OnStage with you! I didn't have much time to stamp today...only enough time to quickly make this card. I used two new stamp sets called, Bear Hugs, and Sunburst Sayings! I used the big bear from Bear Hugs in this set...just wait until you see baby bear!

Here's a close up of the bear hug! Guess what?! There are framelits that go with this set too! I had to fussy cut the bear and heart but soon I won't have to (as soon as I can order those framelits!)!

The background stamp (little x's) and the wavy line that I used to ground the bear are both from Sunburst Sayings.

I'll be back soon with more sneak peeks. Since I attended OnStage I am lucky to have the opportunity to order very early-like I placed my preorder today! Yippee! Can't wait to share the goods with you all! 
Let me know what you think of this new set and feel free to ask me any questions!
Bye for now!
-Maria

WWYS#38: Happy Scenes

Hi! Welcome back to another fun week of What Will You Stamp?! This week's challenge is to use the Happy Scenes stamp set. I made a shaker card this week!


It's so hard to tell in these photos but the trees are stamped in Mossy Meadow to match the paper frame.


Here's the whole Happy Scenes stamp set. There's something in there for Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter, Christmas... What an awesome set!

Make sure to go check out the other WWYS Design Team members to see what they've created this week. If you've got a fun idea on how to use this set we'd sure love to see. Submit your entries to the WWYS Challenge Blog!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

On Stage 3D Card Swap with my new Friends!!

At the time I am writing this blog post I am anxiously awaiting my very first Stamping' Up! event...the first ever On Stage!! I am so lucky to be meeting up with some amazing ladies, who up until now, I've only communicated with in our on-line stamping group. Most of them live in San Diego and will be heading to On Stage together. Zarogina is my stampin' great grandma and will be flying down from Northern California. I myself will be flying down too. One of the ladies from the San Diego group has organized a 3D project and treat swap for us all to participate in. I found some fun, wildly colored lip glosses and tic-tacs to give as my treat and I had a lot of fun making a custom package to gift them in. 

I made a box with a top flap closure and made a belly band to keep it closed. I am so excited to be meeting and making new friends so I used the "Friend" sentiment from the awesomely artistic stamp set. 

Here's a closer up, side view of my box... is it a box? I don't even know but it's 3D and that's what we had to do! I can't wait to take some pictures on Saturday night to add to this blog! I should have six more projects to show you from this swap and I'm sure I'll have some pics of big smiling faces too! 

FAST FORWARD TO SATURDAY NIGHT!!
....or, Sunday morning, haha!
Well, all I have to say is that my Stampin' family is rad! I will post more about my amazing day yesterday over this coming week. For now, I'll post this so I'm not holding out on you.
Happy Sunday!
-Maria

Friday, November 13, 2015

On Stage Snowflake Card-Yippee!

I am so, so, SO Excited!! that I'm totally yelling! Today is Saturday and that means today is On Stage day! I've never been to any Stampin' Up! event before so today is a big, exciting day for me! 

And now for a little secret that I've been keeping... a while back I applied to be on the Artisan Design Team. A few weeks ago I got an email from SU saying that they were still going over the applications and making their decisions but that I was invited to share one example of my very best work on one of their big display boards at On Stage! I'm so excited to have this opportunity and consider it a huge honor. Here is the card I made and will be displaying today at On Stage San Diego. Thank you so much Stampin' Up! I am thrilled!

I wanted to make a card that wasn't easy to just whip up in five minutes. I wanted to combine some different, fun techniques and somehow mesh them together. I chose to do a ton of heat embossing with watercoloring and I am happy with how it turned out. I sure hope you like it too!


I started out by heat embossing in clear on white Shimmer paper. I used the fun snowflakes from Seasonal Snapshot 2015 and the smaller stars and dots stamp from Holly Jolly Greetings. After embossing I started adding color! Lots of color! I used my aqua painter, a spritzer and many colors of ink to add layers of color. I dried with my heat tool when it was necessary. Somewhere in the middle of all that watercoloring, I added more clear heat embossing to preserve some of the lighter colors under my snowflakes. Then I added more color to show the contrast. I also added a couple of stamped images with regular ink just to add more depth. Floating up the top right of my card is a sprinkling of stars cut out with the star confetti punch.  The stars were cut from silver foil and some of my embossed dazzling diamond scraps. They were adhered with glue dots and the fine tip glue pen.

When I was done creating the background piece I built a snowflake for the front of my card. The bottom layer of the snowflake is from the Holly Jolly Greetings set. I heat embossed the large snowflake on a window sheet using Heat & Stick and Dazzling Diamonds. Then I cut the snow flake out by hand. The second layer of the snowflake is from the Snowflake Card Thinlits. It's still available on the clearance rack so I hoped it was cool to use it. I cut that snowflake out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper. Finally, I topped my snowflake off with one of the snowflake wooden elements that I had embossed with Dazzling Diamonds. I finished the card off with silver cording and a "peace" cut from the Holiday Greetings Thinlits. 

The inside of my card is watercolored as well. You can tell that I didn't do as many layers of color as it doesn't have the same depth as the front of the card does. My sentiment is from the Holly Jolly Greetings set. My card is layered on base of Basic Gray and a mat of Pacific Point. 

I hope you liked my card! I'm sure excited to be able to share it with you. I will be back later with pictures of a most amazing day I am sure! Until then, you have an amazing day! I hope you may be lucky enough to be attending On Stage somewhere too. If not, I promise to share everything that I am allowed too!
Huge smiles!
Maria

CARD SUPPLIES:

Thursday, November 12, 2015

OSAT Holiday Blog Hop


Hi Everybody! It's the second Thursday of the month and that means OSAT Blog Hop time! Yippee! This month we have 17 stampers and a Holiday theme for you! I can't wait to go through and see what everybody has made! If you've hopped along with us before you already know that each of us make both a card and a project so there will be lots of fun on this hop!

For my card I almost went with Winter Solstice (you can see that card on Saturday!) but opted for a glitzy Holiday card with a cute, little penguin instead. I hope you like it!


To create my snowflake background I used the fun snowflakes from Seasonal Snapshot from Project Life and embossed them in white on black paper. I added Red Glimmer Paper and a vellum banner (backed with white so that it would pop) to my card front and topped it off with a silver doily and an adorable little penguin from the Snow Place set.

Here's a close-up of the penguin. He is so fancy with his sparkly red bow tie! I embossed his buttons in silver and colored his beak and feet with my Pumpkin Pie marker.




For my Holiday project I made a tag. I've been dying to get to use these fantastic reindeer clips on a project and hadn't had a chance until now. I don't make tags very often but a set of these could be a great gift for someone special! I'm thinking I'll be making more of these soon.
Here's a close up. Do you recognize that DSP? It's from the Sweel L'il Things DSP pack and trust me-there are lots of sweet l'il designs in this pack! It's a total bonus pack because many of the designs can be used for occasions other than for baby cards. I created my own background using the star stamp from Holly Jolly Greetings on Pear Pizzazz. Then I added a layer of Basic Gray and sponged it all. My sentiment is from Holly Jolly Greetings-I really love that set! Of course to get those perfectly flagged banners I used my Triple Banner Punch. It just makes it so easy. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my projects today! I hope you will keep on hopping along with us and hit all 17 fabulous stampers! Next up on the hop is the talented Martie Hillyer!


TAG SUPPLIES:

Monday, November 9, 2015

WWYS #37: Thankful Forest Friends

Hi Everybody! Thanks for joining me for another terrific week of What Will You Stamp?! This week our challenge is to use Thankful Forest Friends. Upon first look it seems like it's a Thanksgiving set but I think these cute little animals can be used for just about anything. I decided to use the bear and emboss him in white on basic gray paper to make him a polar bear. I hope you like my winter scene!


Here's a little close up of my polar bear and the sign. Do you recognize those trees in the background? They're cut using the Sleigh Ride edgelits and I used a sponge dauber to give them a little color. My sign was cut using the Hand Picked Framelits, stamped with the "Peace" from the  Holly Jolly Greetings set and finished off with some sponging and a gold cording bow. My Pacific Point background piece was dry embossed with the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and dusted with Dazzling Diamonds glitter powder. 

Here's the whole Thankful Forest Friends stamp set. Which stamp is your favorite? 
Want to see more cards made with this set? Come back and visit me on Saturday! I'm participating in a blog hop and this is the set I will be using. Want even more cards? Go check out the other WWYS Designers at What Will You Stamp?! We've got such a talented design team. I hope you'll go check them out! If you have a fabulous idea for this stamp set we would love to see it! Please submit your cards or projects the WWYS Blog Page. I can't wait to see what will you stamp!

Have a great day and Happy Stamping! Thanks for visiting me and I'll be back soon with more projects!

-Maria


Sunday, November 8, 2015

Wedding Card for Erica!

Yesterday was an exciting day! My niece, Erica, got married! A little birdie told me that her bridesmaids would all be wearing cow"boy" boots with their teal dresses-so cute! I wanted her wedding card to be fun and match her beautiful country wedding so I knew I had to come up with something special.

I used the retired Bootiful Occasions stamp set, The HardwoodBackground Stamp, and, the Star Confetti punch to put together this card. I sure hope she loves it!

I upped the fancy factor by adding gold glimmer stars and some twirls of gold thread. I also love the extra bit of texture that the corrugated paper gives this card.

I did sponging on every layer of this card, popped everything up with dimensionals and made a matching envelope.

I hope Erica will love her card, but, more importantly, I wish her and her new husband a life full of happiness and joy together!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody! I will be back tomorrow with the team from What Will You Stamp. Keep an eye out for lots of fun posts this week. I'm getting ready to hop a plane to San Diego on Friday to join some awesome people for the first ever Stampin' Up! On Stage event! I can't wait! Are any of you going?
If so, I hope I will get to meet some of you! Back to the craft room with me! By for now.
-Maria

 

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop: Sketch Challenge

Happy Weekend everybody and thanks for joining us for another Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop! This month we have a fun sketch challenge. Here's what we've got to work with...

And, here's my card... I used the bear from Thankful Forest Friends and cut him out a new set of arms so that he could hold up the sign on my sister's birthday card. It's hard to tell in this picture but that sign is both sponged and stamped in Soft Sky with the Hardwood Background stamp. 

Here's the inside of my card. It's simple but cute and I added a flower for the bear to pick from the Cottage Greetings stamp set which is also where the sentiment comes from. 

That's it for today folks but I hope you'll keep hopping along with us to see what the rest of my talented stamping friends have made for you today. Next up on the hop is the talented...


Here's our whole lineup for today in case you'd like to hop around:
Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE






Monday, November 2, 2015

WWYS #36: For All Things


Happy Monday everybody! This week What Will You Stamp has a For All Things challenge for you. This is a lovely set that is perfect for making your fall projects. Here's my card...

I've used Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaron and So Saffron to put this card together. I love that it both pops with color and still somehow looks soft. 


The corrugated paper is terrific for adding texture to projects. I just love it! That little wooden heart you see next to the sentiment is left over from the Water Color Wishes card kit. It's a fantastic kit and Stampin' Up! is generous enough to include extra embellishments in the kit. The little leaves that I stamped in the background are from one of the current hostess sets called Floral Wings.

Here's what the whole For All Things stamp set looks like. I love that watercolor background stamp and the little watercolor banner too!

I hope you'll head on over to What Will You Stamp to check out what the rest of the amazing Design Team has made this week. If you've got this set, I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge! I can't wait to see What Will You Stamp?!
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