Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Brianne's Birthday!!

Hi Everybody! Guess what?! This past weekend was my Stampin' Mama's Birthday! That's right, my Stampin' Up! up-line who introduced me to Stampin' Up! got a little bit older this weekend. I knew I was going to be lucky enough to see her and wanted to give her a really special card that was made just for her spunky, fun personality. Bri loves pink! ...and hearts! So, here's what I made for her!

I used Melon Mambo and two of the new in colors to punch out a bunch of hearts. I layered the hearts and bound them in the center with Metallic Silver Thread. The new Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach really go well with Melon Mambo. The Go Wild DSP Stack provided the perfect background and a Silver Foil Doily and some Melon Mambo accents gave just the right amount of bling.

If you're going to go all out on the front of the card you better put a little bit of effort into the inside too! On the front of the card I really liked the tiny little heart (from the Owl Punch) in Melon Mambo, with a twist of Silver Metallic Thread, layered over a piece of black cardstock cut with the Tags and Labels Framelits Dies. I decided to carry this element to the inside of the card and was happy with how it came out. 

Here's one more look at my Stampin' Mama's Birthday Card. I hope you like it! I sure had a blast making it and even more fun giving it to her today!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I always love it when you do!
Have an amazing day and I'll see you soon!
-Maria



Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Monday, May 30, 2016

WWYS #66: Tap Tap Tap

Happy Monday everybody and welcome back to another fantastic week of What Will You Stamp?! This week we are saying goodbye to such a fun set... Tap Tap Tap! 

Here's my card...

and my color combo...


I heat embossed the cool typewriter in white on black cardstock. Then I layered it on top of white Corrugated Paper, half of a silver foil doily, some flags and some watercolored Typeset DSP. Fun! Heres another picture for you. I added a bunch of stars and a small flag cut out of the new Dapper Denim ruched ribbon (this ribbon is awesome in case you were wondering!) before sticking a mini brad through it to hold it together. My card base is Crumb Cake and I've got a layer of Basic Black on top of that. I used an exacto knife to cut slits in the type writer so that I could slide some vellum paper through to make it look more realistic and I love the way that came out. It's hard to tell in the picture but the vellum is lightly sponged in Bermuda Bay.


If you haven't checked this set out before here's a good a look for you. It's on the retiring list so if you're interested in purchasing it make sure to snatch it up quickly as today is the last day you will be able to get it. I just checked the inventory reports and luckily it is still available. 

Tap Tap Tap
Clear: 134204
Wood: 134201

For more fun Tap Tap Tap ideas please go check out the amazing cards the WWYS design team has made to share with you. If you have a great idea of your own we would love to see it! Simply add your own project to the gallery at the bottom of the What Will You Stamp Challenge page! Looking forward to seeing What Will You Stamp with this set!

Thanks for stopping by to visit today! I'm always so glad to have you. If you have any questions please let me know. You can leave me a comment below or shoot me an email at: mariawillis@hotmail.com

Have an amazing day!
-Maria



SUPPLY LIST:




Need more Stampin' Supplies now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Lots of Love Elephant Card Video Tutorial

Hi everybody!
Last week I posted a card using the cute little elephant from an incoming Host set called Lots of Love.


In my post I showed that I had used a couple of different tricks and techniques. I had quite a few people ask for a tutorial for the card so here you go! Enjoy!


I hope you liked my video! Thanks for stopping by today!
-Maria



Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Monday, May 23, 2016

WWYS #65: Endless Birthday Wishes

Hi everybody and happy Monday! It's time for another What Will You Stamp challenge and this week  we are featuring Endless Birthday Wishes! This set is full of versatility when it comes to Birthday greetings! I've chosen to combine my "Happy Birthday" sentiment with one of Stampin' Ups! new Hostess sets called Lots of Love... It's so new that it's not even available yet (June 1st is when you can get your hands on it)!


I love the cute little frog in the Lots of Love set! For some reason he looks a little bewildered to me. On this card I've stamped him in Gray Archival ink on Shimmery White paper and watercolored him using Island Indigo ink to match the rest of my card. Who says frogs have to be green?!

The sentiment piece wasn't photographing well in the pics above so here's one more so you can see that stamped the dandelion puffs from Birthday Celebration in Smoky Slate to add some background interest.  I also sponged the edges of the circle just a little with Island Indigo. To top it off I added a pretty little bow in the Bermuda Bay stitched ribbon. 

Here's the whole set so you can check out all of the great sentiments.

To see more fantastic cards using this set please check out the What Will You Stamp challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team has come up with. If you have a great idea of your own we would love to have you join the fun this week by entering your own card or project.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! It's so nice to have you!
-Maria



Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Stampin Friends Blog Hop: May Showers/Sympathy




Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's theme is Sympathy and Get Well. If you're already following along with the hop you have arrived here from my friend Carolina Evan's blog! If you've somehow missed her blog you've got to check her out-she's absolutely amazing! If you'd like to go back to Carolina simply click on her name or on the "Previous" button below.


This month we have three awesome guest hoppers:
Maria Willis: That's me! 

I am always so grateful to be invited to be a guest on this fabulous hop so this time around was no exception.  Then, Dun-Dun-DUN! I realized that I was going to have to make a 3D project with a sympathy theme. I'm thinking, What in the WORLD, do you make as a sympathy project/gift (besides flowers)? Thank goodness it didn't take me too long to figure something out and I am so excited to share it with you! Here it is... can you guess what it is?

Yep, a pretty box that closes up tight with a magnetic closure, but what's inside?

It's a designer mini tissue box with a thoughtful sentiment inside. I kept thinking that I couldn't think of many appropriate gifts to give when someone is grieving the loss of a loved one. Flowers and food are both thoughtful and helpful gifts but I wanted to showcase something different. I kept thinking that the most important thing to me would be to let someone know how much I cared and that I was there for them in their time of need. I think sometimes the really meaningful moments in life can come from small but thoughtful gestures...to me, that's what this tissue box is. It's a way to let someone know how much you care. Sometimes there really are "just no words" but we can always find a way to show kindness (like sharing tissue or wiping someone's tears).

Here's a close up of the front of the tissue box. I used the Rose Garden thinlits with Flirty Flamingo cardstock and vellum to dress it up a bit.  I used white Corrugated Paper, Mint Macaron Lace, Venetian Crochet Trim, Baker's Twine and Enamel Dots to add layers of texture and subtle color. I also did a little watercoloring behind the rose and plenty of pen flicking to get ink spatters all over my project. 


For my cards I used a set called Remarkable You. The flowers from this set are all gorgeous! I chose to use the calalillies because they are such an elegant and beautiful flower and just seem appropriate for a sympathy card. 

I watercolored my flowers with Daffodil Delight and added a background of Soft Sky. A dash of Wink of Stella and some pearls added some subtle elegance. The sentiment I used is from Wetlands.

Here's the inside of my card. The lovely sentiment is from Rose Wonder.

I had another idea to make this card a little bit differently and decided to give it a go. I used the same colors (except for that I was a bit more heavy handed with the Daffodil Delight and darn it if I don't like it better lighter) but I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with a framelit and attached it at the base of the flowers.

I also had a bit of an "incident" when I was using the Wink of Stella on this card... I thought it was running out so I gave it a bit of a squeeze off to the side to try to get it going again. Well, it was not running out! So I ended up with more than just a "Wink" on this card if you know what I mean.

I hoped you liked my project and my cards today! If you have a minute to leave me a comment please let me know what you thought. I'm also curious to know which version of my card you like better. I think I like the first one better.


Did you know the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop is having a Mystery Giveaway and you can earn multiple chances to win?! Don't forget to comment and # before May 22nd at midnight for a chance to win this awesome giveaway!


Thanks for stopping by my blog today. It's always a treat to have you visit! I hope you will continue on with this hop to see what amazing creations the rest of the artists have made to share with you. Don't forget to click my next button to continue on to the fabulous Bibi Cameron! If you get lost along the hop feel free to use the Blog Roll below to navigate as you please. Have an amazing day everybody and enjoy the hop!
Until next time,
-Maria



BLOG ROLL:
Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE!
Bibi Cameron: NEXT UP!
Leanne Johnson
Melissa Thomas
Steph Jandrow
Christine Pennington
Siara Acdal
Deana Benson
Lynn Streifert

Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Monday, May 16, 2016

WWYS #64: Rose Wonder

Hello, hello! Happy Monday and welcome back to another fabulous week of What Will You Stamp?! This week we are featuring a really popular set called Rose Wonder. You're probably looking at my card and thinking, "So, where's the rose?" That's right, I didn't use it. I opted for this beautiful leaf stamp instead. Along with many amazing sentiments the leaves are one of the many stamps that come in the Rose Wonder set. First I heat embossed my stamp (3x) onto water color paper. Then I used my aqua painter paint the background in Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo. 



I added Clear Wink of Stella to the leaves and I just love the subtle beauty that the WOS added to the leaves. I used the clear epoxy accent stickers to add a little texture without distracting too much from the leaves. I am so bummed these clear accent stickers are retiring as I just love them.

After mounting my image piece onto Basic Gray cardstock I thought it needed just a little something more... but something really subtle and barely there. I figured out a way to use the Silver Metallic Thread to make a fun border for my image and I am happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

Here's another shot of the front of the card. This angle shows the glimmer from the Wink of Stella better than the first image I posted. Honestly, and I swear I am NOT tooting my own horn, this card is really beautiful in person. These pictures do not do it justice.

Well, a pretty card should have a pretty inside too, right?! So I tried something that I haven't tried before and it was fun! I squeezed my Bermuda Bay ink pad to get some ink in the lid. Then I used my Clear Wink of Stella to pick up just a little bit of the ink and I basically used the Wink of Stella brush tip to paint in these leaves. The color is very subtle. It doesn't look quite like the vibrant Bermuda Bay that I am used to but it is so pretty and of course the whole thing sparkles! This technique was so easy to do and the ink came right of the Wink of Stella brush tip (it didn't ruin it and it writes clear again). I will certainly be doing this again.


If you haven't seen it already here's what the whole Rose Wonder stamp set looks like. It's pretty fantastic and I love the many sentiments and the lovely font. 

Do you have this stamp set? Do you have an awesome idea for using it and want to share it with the world? Well, the Design Team over at What Will You Stamp? would love to see your creations! Please head on over to the challenge blog and add your work to the lineup! I can't wait to see What Will You Stamp!

If you do not have this amazing stamp set but now you just have to have it... Please go ahead and visit my store as I would love to be your demonstrator. There is a link below and I love talking to you guys so feel free to ask questions and let me know if there is anyway at all that I can help you out. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I am always so happy when you do!  
Until next time-have an amazing day!
-Maria


Need more stamps now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

OSAT Blog Hop: May Flowers


Hey, hey! It's One Stamp at a Time Blog Hop time and that means we have a lot of fantastic creations in store for you today! This month we have 15 talented artists who have each designed both a card and project for this month's May Flowers themed hop. You may be starting the hop here at my blog or you may have come from Melissa Davies blog (isn't she fantastic?!). Either way I hope you'll continue the whole hop and see everyone's creations. Just click the next button at the bottom of my post!

For my CARD I used the Helping Me Grow stamp set along with the Timeless Textures set. Helping Me Grow is my favorite flower set right now and I find it so easy to use as every single flower in this set is lovely. First I made the card with the So Saffron flower. Then I thought how pretty this card would be in different colors and gifted as a set so I made the same card in Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, and, Wisteria Wonder. 

Here it is in So Saffron...

...and Soft Sky...

...and Pink Pirouette...

...and Wisteria Wonder.



For my PROJECT I decided to make a gift box to put my cards in. I used the same design for the front of the boxes (I made two sets to give away) but added some twine and a tag I made using the Lots of Labels Framelits.

Here's a close up of the tag I made. I love how it came out! I grunged it up a bit with two different stamps from the Timeless Textures set. The sentiment is pieced together from two stamps from Helping Me Grow. I really love the fonts in this stamp set.

Here's one last shot of my gift box with the cards in the background. I did stamp flowers on all of my envelopes too. They look rustic and lovely. 

I hope you liked my cards and project for today because I sure had fun making them! For more fantastic May Flower projects please keep on hopping with us. Next up is the talented Anna Smith!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today it was so nice to have you!
-Maria


BLOG ROLL:
Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE!
Anna Smith: NEXT

Need supplies now? Never fear! I've got you covered!


Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited (possibly way too enthusiastic... No! That's not possible!) Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

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