Piggysnoot

I went to a baby shower today for Larry’s sister-in-law. She’s having a girl…hopefully, because she got TONS of pink outfits! I made her a baby 6×6 scrapbook with one of the Stampin’ Up! Simply Scrappin’ Kits. It was the talk of the shower! Everyone wanted to see it. Now all she’ll have to do is put in the pictures and she’ll be all set. Following are a few of the pages…a brief description follows each:

This is the Mini Card I made for her. It’s 2.75″ square. All I did was use one of the left over hand stickers, stamp in the middle with a phrase from Tiny Talk, and add some pink gingham ribbon. It’s tiny and cute!

I stamped on the cover of the book. It’s a linen album…the stamps I used are the Giant ‘B’ Monogram and the Whimsical Alphabet. I stamped using Rose Red and Certainly Celery Craft Pads. When stamping on an album cover you need to use the Craft Ink…Classic Ink won’t show up on the linen albums. It takes a few minutes to dry (I actually just left it over night). Then I added some celery grosgrain that is secured with Sticky Strip.

This is the inside front cover. I figured the best use of this space was to attach a clear envelope that she can use to put the hospital band and newspaper announcement…that kind of stuff. I just chopped off the top of the envie so it would fit, and added a ‘Memories’ tag with a sticker from the Scrappin’ Kit.

I wanted to post this page because I really like how the Hodgepodge Hardware turned out. It took four hands (I had to enlist Larry’s help to hold the ribbon ends), and a few pieces of Sticky Strip, but the results were too cool! I wish I could just buy a ton of these little ‘S’ clips…they’re my favorite piece of Hodgepodge!

This is the left side of a 2-page layout…I used Whimsical Alphabet…I just love the title strips that come in the Scrappin’ Kits! If you do a 6×6 book you actually get twice as many title strips!

This would be the right side of the layout. I had to use the Classical Alphabet for the ‘and’ symbol because I don’t have that symbol in the Whimsical Alphabet…it comes with the Lower Case, and that’s still on my wish list!

So there you have a few ideas for 6×6 layouts…and a simple, but cute, stamped cover! Now that I’ve gotten up the nerve to actually stamp on the album cover, I am totally lovin’ it! I’ve done a few now, and I just think that stamping on the cover really makes each one look special. I urge you to try it…just be sure you use Craft Ink…and I’d recommend using a piece of scrap paper to practice your layout. After that, it’s just stamp and go…of course it’s one time placement, so I usually go with a ‘non-perfect’ type-of-thing…you know, I don’t try stamping letters in a perfectly straight line or anything…do it messy on purpose and you’ll be fine!

Have I got a SCOOP for you…from the 2006-2007 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog. About this time of year, SU! demos (and customers alike) start anxiously awaiting the retirement list…which is given out May 1st. Then shortly after that, we all begin pacing the floor (and the walls sometimes) waiting for the big brown truck to bring our new catalogs. I don’t have any info on the retiring stamp sets, yet. But I do have some info about the new catalog. Okay, I’ve kept you waiting long enough…

The new catalog (available July 1st) will be offering…drumroll please…new colors! Now it’s not gonna be like last time where color families are discombobulated, colors are added, colors are taken away, colors are reformulated. It’s not like that this time…thankfully, because I just finally collected a good stock of papers and inks in the newly added (last year) colors. This year there will be six new colors that will be in addition to the ones we already have. The names are as follows: True Thyme, Marigold Morning, Cranberry Crisp, Vintage Violet, Buckaroo Blue, and Cool Carribean. Once again, these are additional and are not replacing any existing colors. So now we just all have to wait around for a few months until we can actually see the new colors. That, combined with the anticipation of the retiring sets and new incoming stamps and accessories is enough to drive a stamper crazy!

I did some stamping on Wednesday for an upcoming party and came up with a pretty cool card. This is one that I am particularly proud of…one of the first in a while that I really wowed myself over. It uses the Print Pattern background stamp, which is one of the many stamps on sale during this month’s Bargain Backgrounds promotion (view the promo at www.stampinup.com). The argyle effect is done by using the Print Pattern background stamp, and hand draw in the thin lines using a Stampin’ Around marker and a ruler. Just draw the lines so that where they intersect is in between the diamonds.

Changing the colors to something from the Soft Subtles family would make it a very springy card, or try mixing up the stamp set and use something other than Smorgasborders to create a masculine card. Here’s the one I came up with (using a color combo I was hesitant to use at first):

Stamps: Print Pattern and Smorgasborders

Inks: Night of Navy and Always Artichoke

Papers: Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, More Mustard, and Whisper White

Accessories: Wide Navy Organdy Ribbon, Pewter Hodgepodge, Dimensionals

I am liking the Hodgepodge on the Wide Organdy…this is the first time I tried it like this and plan to do it this way again. I attached the flower rectangle with Stampin’ Dimensionals to give it a little 3D thing going on. If Print Pattern isn’t on your wish list, you may want to make some room for it because it’s quite a diverse stamp…from masculine themed cards and scrapbook pages to this cool argyle look…I’m sure yours will be well used like mine!

In the big Idea Book & Catalog there are clear checkbook covers…and they are way cool! You can just stamp and/or decorate a piece of cardstock, slip it in the clear cover, and you have a fabulous (and personalized) checkbook cover! It makes me happy to pay bills because that means I get to look at my cool checkbook cover. *Please note that this is the point at which I am falling out of my chair laughing hysterically at the absurdity of being happy about paying bills*. Okay, so they don’t make you deliriously happy about paying bills…but they are fun!

They’re not all that expensive, and you actually get two in the package…perfect to make one for yourself and a friend! The other awesome thing about having a handmade checkbook cover is that when I get tired of the one I have, I simply stamp a new one, and I’m good to go! That’s precisely what happened a few days ago…I got bored with the one I had had for the past six months, so I got to workin’ on a new one. Here it is:

Even though there’s no stamping involved, I think this turned out very cute and quite ’spring-like’. I used some leftover pieces parts from the Island Blossoms Simply Scrappin’ Kit (Level One Hostess). Let me say, I love love love these scrappin’ kits! I made a 25 page 6×6 book, several cards, and this checkbook cover with one kit…and I still have more stickers and a few 6×6 sheets of the designer printed paper. What a deal! The colors I used are: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, and Barely Banana. I used the Crafter’s Tool Kit to do some paper piercing around the little squares, and a silver brad in the center of the big flower. There’s also the direct to paper technique in celery around the edges. This went together really quick…and it makes me smile a little when I pull it out of my purse…but only for a second…until I realize that getting it out of my purse means I’m paying yet another bill…