Take Advantage of the Fantastic August Special Offer!

Hi Everyone,
Well, I am back from vacation and just in time to share with you the latest special offer from Stampin' Up! 

For the month of August, you will get a FREE package of Designer Series Paper ( a $10.95 value) when you buy three Designer Series Paper packages!  This is a great opportunity to stock up on the fabulous Designer Series Paper packages in the new 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog and the 2011 Summer Mini Catalog. 

Please note that this special offer does not apply to the Specialty Designer Series Paper or the Hostess Designer Series Paper. There is no limit to the number of Free Designer Series Paper packages that you may earn. 

There are so many amazing new designs available to choose from (see pages 184-186) in the new Idea Book & Catalog to fit your cardmaking, scrapbooking and papercrafting needs.  Get an early start on your holiday projects with the spooky Frightful Sight DSP perfect for Halloween or the wonderful Christmas themed DSP, Letters to Santa.

Don't forget, August is also the final month to order from the 2011 Summer Mini Catalog and the amazing products featured.  My personal favorite, Nautical Expedition DSP (found on p8), is perfect for masculine projects or that special scrapbook of a holiday at sea.
  
Remember, this special offer is limited to the month of August only. Visit my Online Store to place your order or contact me and I will be happy to help you.

Until Next Time.
Happy Stampin',
Tricia Butts
http://www.triciabutts.stampinup.net 

Filled With Love Scrapbook Share

Hi Everyone,

Children are a wonderful joy in life, and watching them grow up can often be bittersweet. I have been looking back over past Christmas photos of my own 4 children and it still amazes me how much they have all grown and how fast the time has flown by. The photos that we take of them are snapshots of the stages of their lives and they are more precious as time goes by.
Today I would like to share with you another wonderful scrapbook page that can be found on my Stampin' Up website, here in my Project Gallery.

This scrapbook page was created using the wonderful products from the Filled with Love Bundle that is available now through January 24th. The stamped images were created using the Filled with Love Stamp set and the background is from the Love Patterns Designer Series Paper set. Note the cute embellishments used to create the XOX at the bottom of the page - these are the Bitty Buttons you can earn free when you purchase the Filled with Love Bundle before January 24th. 

Shop Now

Filled with Love Bundle

Contains the Filled with Love Stamp Set and Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Wood-Mount Item #  124380  $32.90
Clear-Mount Item #  124381  $26.90
Receive a FREE package of Bitty Buttons--a $4.95 value--when you purchase either the wood or clear mount exclusive Filled with Love Bundle.

Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack (non-bundled)
12 sheets total: three 12" x 12" sheets of two double-sided designs in Real Red and Pretty in Pink
 Item # 124156  $9.95

The Love Patterns Designer Series papers work well for your Valentine's Day projects and are versatile enough to be used throughout the year for all occasions. Now is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of this special promotion and stock up on these beautiful papers.
Please note that neither the Filled with Love stamp set or the Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack will be available once this special promotion ends January 24th. So don't delay, and place your order by contacting me or you may place your order by visiting my Online Store here.

Until Next Time.
Happy Stampin',
Tricia Butts
http://www.triciabutts.stampinup.net/

Fun with Black & White Tags

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I have been absent for so long. My kids are all back in school and we are slowly getting into a regular routine. With my husband away on business, I have been taking care of everything which has meant very little time for stamping and creating.
So today I thought I would share with you some tags that I created for a swap that I participated in recently. I belong to a wonderful group called Art of the Creative Mind, where we explore creating art using mixed media. It is a lot of fun and really has given me the opportunity to think outside the box.
Anyway, this particular swap was to create two Black & White Tags. Now, I have never really played with this combination before as I tend to gravitate towards color, so this was a fun challenge for me.

I decided to have one tag be black and the other white to explore the different contrasts. I also decided to use two different embossing techniques - heat embossing and dry embossing using my Sizzix Big Shot.

For the Black Tag I used the Stampin' Up Background stamp, En Francais, and stamped it with Whisper White Craft ink. Using white embossing powder and my heat gun, I heat embossed the tag and loved the texture and look of the bold white script on the black cardstock.

To embellish this tag, I used my Scallop Circle punch to punch out my flower shape and then cut between every second scallop towards the center to create the petals. I stamped the pattern using a stamp from the Elements of Style stamp set from Stampin' Up, using Basic Black Classic ink. The small black center flower was punched from black cardstock using the Boho Blossoms punch and I used a clear rhinestone jewel to accent the center of the flower.

The small white tag was dry embossed using my Big Shot and the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing folder that is exclusive to Stampin' Up. Then I created my sentiment using the For You stamp, also from the Elements of Style stamp set with Basic Black Craft ink and heat embossed it using black embossing powder to add some dimension. I matted it onto a slightly larger circle of black cardstock. The ribbons were some scraps I had left over from another project and just seemed to finish it off.

For the white tag, I decided to again use my Big Shot and the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing folder to emboss the background to add texture. I created the border across the top using the new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch from Stampin' Up.  The flowers were punched from white and black cardstock using the Boho Blossoms punch and I accented the centers of each of the flowers with Dazzling Diamonds for a little sparkle.

The letter F and friends were stamped in Basic Black Craft ink and heat embossed using black embossing powder. The stamped images were created with the Vintage Vogue stamp set from Stampin' Up. I carefully cut out the letter F to help it stand out against the white embossed cardstock. I again used a scrap of black ribbon to create the tie for the tag.

These tags can be used for many different projects. You can use them as gift tags, bookmarks, or as an element for your card or scrapbook page. I had so much fun creating these tags and they really are a wonderful way to explore new techniques and color combinations.

I hope you have enjoyed today's creative stamping project and I hope that it will inspire you to try experimenting with tags. Have a wonderful day.

Until Next Time.

Stampin' Hugs,

Tricia Butts

http://www.triciabutts.stampinup.net/

My Digital Studio - Birthday Splendor Card Creations

Hi Everyone,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and 4th of July holiday. We had a very wet day yesterday so we didn't venture out to watch the fireworks this year. Mind you, our neighbors more than made up for that and we had a spectacular display going on all around our house. It was rather fun to watch them from our doorway as the rain came pouring down. Our poor little dog didn't like it at all and she spent the evening safely in her kennel, warm and dry.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon cleaning my craft area and reorganizing my supplies. With our guests arriving in a few days, I decided today to create my card share with My Digital Studio rather than mess up my nice, clean studio.
Today's card creation is a birthday card I created using one of the recent downloads available to add to My Digital Studio. It is a set of beautiful backgrounds called "Summertime Splendor" and I love the soft, watercolor feel they have.

This quick and simple card was created entirely using My Digital Studio. The sentiment is one of the stamp images available as is the punch shapes I used to create the frame and matte for the sentiment.

The other wonderful thing about My Digital Studio is that you can still access the retired colors and use them to create your digital projects. The cardstock cardbase is Lovely Lilac and the scalloped oval is Pixie Pink (I reduced the opacity to give it a softer look).

This Lily design is just one of 6 designs from the Summertime Splendor digital designer series paper and the download is just $4.95.  That is amazing value when you consider all the possibilities available to you with these designs. You can use it to create 12x12 digital scrapbook pages as well (wouldn't this make a beautiful wedding page for a bride).

If you would like more information about My Digital Studio, please contact me and I will be happy to introduce you to the wonderful world of digital creations. Remember, you can place your order by visiting my Online Store here, just click Shop Now.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Until Next Time.

Happy Stampin',

Tricia Butts

Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

http://www.triciabutts.stampinup.net/

Summertime Splendor Designer Series Paper - Digital Download 121067

Price: $4.95
The Summer Splendor Designer Series paper digital download for My Digital Studio are an elegant and artistic addition to your digital library. Ideal for backgrounds or cut down for embellishments, these Designer Series papers are just what you need to capture the warmth and beauty of summer in your digital projects.

My Digital Studio - Father's Day Share

Happy Monday Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We spent yesterday relaxing at home and taking advantage of the fact that our pool is fully functional again. It was a wonderful way to spend Father's Day as a family. My kids wanted to do something special this year for their Dad, so I took a bunch of photos of them in the pool and then I went to work creating a unique Father's Day card with My Digital Studio.

The end result was perfect and the kids were so happy with how it turned out. We sent it to my husband as an email E-card and he loved it and now has it on his phone so he can see it whenever he wants.

It took me less than 30 minutes to create this card and that included downloading my photos and choosing the best one to use (not an easy task when you have an energetic 4 year old who won't sit still while trying to take the photos). Using My Digital Studio is a fantastic way to create your own unique cards and scrapbook pages and adding photos is quick and easy. I wouldn't have been able to create this traditionally in that amount of time, plus, I didn't have all the supplies I would have needed to recreate this card.

My Digital Studio provides you with so many options ranging from the choice of colors, Designer Series Paper & cardstock, stamp images, embellishments (which includes an assortment of ribbons, brads, buttons, eyelets etc.), punches (that is how I created the star image and the scalloped border around the photo), matting images and more all by clicking your mouse.

The best thing is that there is no waste. If you don't like how something looks, you can delete it and try something else. My Digital Studio is a fantastic designing tool, giving you the ability to try different options until you get the look you want before creating it traditionally. Or you can print it up to use as it is or even add traditional embellishments for a hybrid look.

Trust me, once you get started, you will find it very addicting and will love the projects you can create. To learn more about My Digital Studio Software, please contact me today and I will be happy to answer your questions.

Until Next Time.

Happy (Digital) Stampin',

Tricia Butts

Creative Card Buffet: Day 3 Card Share

Hi Everyone,
I am back to share with you two more card designs that will be available to make during Saturday's Creative Card Buffet. Once again, these cards demonstrate how different colors and designs can suit different occasions and how you can create cards to suit the special people in your life.

The first card is bold, bright and happy. With this card design you will get the opportunity to try out the new Stampin' Around Builder Wheels that are in the new Summer Mini Catalog. This new product allows you to mix and match these new wheels to create your own personal design to suit your card. The two wheels we will be using in this card are So Many Stars and Candle Crazy, and they can be used with the Wheel Spindle and Spacers kit with the Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel Handle. These Builder Wheels are also great for creating borders and backgrounds for your scrapbook pages.
The Texture for this card is created with the new Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder with the Big Shot. I just love this new embossing folder and it is fun to experiment with using the embossed and debossed sides for different effects.

The second card is soft, subtle and serene. Unfortunately the photo just doesn't do this card justice, but no matter how I tried I just couldn't seem to capture the beauty of this card. The card design is created with the new Elements of Style stamp set from the new Summer Mini Catalog and the images are heat embossed using Bashful Blue Craft ink and Clear Embossing powder. The subtle color to the floral design is achieved using the Stampin' Pastels. If you have never used Stampin' Up's Pastels before, you will love using them with this card.
So there you have it. I hope you have enjoyed today's peek at Saturday's Creative Card Buffet. I hope you will come and join me for a fun and relaxed time with me in my home studio. Please contact me to reserve your spot.
Until Next Time.
Happy Stampin',
Tricia Butts

Saying Goodbye to Color Favorites

Hi Everyone,

Today I wanted to share a card that I created using one of my favorite colors, Barely Banana, which will be retiring as of June 30th. I love this shade of yellow and I was so happy with how this card turned out. I also used Crushed Curry Classic Ink which is one of the current In Colors that will also be retiring June 30th and I loved the way the two tones of yellow combined to create this sunny card.

The card is a traditional 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 size and I used Barely Banana cardstock to create the card base. I then stamped the background with the En Francais Background stamp (item #109521) using the Crushed Curry Classic ink. Next I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and I used the Scallop Trim Border punch (hopefully you got this during Sale-a-bration) and created the border on both sides. To add some texture to the cardstock, I then used the Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder with my Big Shot to emboss the Whisper White cardstock.

The focal point of the card was created with Barely Banana cardstock using the Cherry Blossom Embosslit with my Big Shot, which does an amazing job of cutting and embossing the flower at the same time. I then used a sponge dauber and applied Crushed Curry Classic ink to the edges of the flower and also in the center embossed area to give it depth.

Next I took my paper piercer and poked a hole in the center and added my gold brad. Then I decided my flower need a little sparkle and bling. I used my two way glue pen and traced around the outer edge of the flower petals and the center of the flower and sprinkled the flower with Dazzling Diamonds.

Now it's assembly time! Using Snail adhesive I attached the embossed Whisper White cardstock to my card base and then added my glittery, embossed flower to the center of the Whisper White cardstock using a glue dot.

The final finishing touch is the sentiment and I chose my favorite stamp set, Teeny Tiny Wishes and stamped the Happy Birthday in Barely Banana Classic ink on Whisper White cardstock. I then punched it out using the Small Oval Punch and adhered it to the lower part of the card with Snail adhesive.

This is a relatively quick and easy card to put together and it would look great using other color combinations. The elements of this card could also be used to create a wonderful look for your scrapbook pages by providing dimension and texture without a lot of bulky embellishments.

I hope you have enjoyed today's card share and I hope it will help to inspire you with your crafting projects. Remember, Stampin' Up is retiring 30 of its colors June 30th, so hurry and place your order now before they disappear.  There has already been a huge demand for a lot of the items and as of June 1st, it will they will be available while supplies last, so please don't leave your order until the last minute and be disappointed.

Contact me today to place your order or visit my Online Store to place your order. To see the list of retiring colors click here to download the PDF file or click on the icon in my sidebar.  You can also find the PDF file with the details of the new color collections for the new catalog here and also in my sidebar.

Until Next Time.

Happy Stampin',

Tricia Butts

Let's Celebrate Spring with Two Step Stamping!

Hello Everyone,
I hope you all survived the 1st day of April. April Fools Day definitely gets pretty crazy and this year didn't seem any different.

One thing that is not a joke is Stampin' Up's new promotion for April, celebrating Two Step Stamping. This is a wonderful way to get started on your Spring projects and you get the chance to save on select stamp sets as well as the chance to earn a brand new stamp set for free.

Aren't these samples beautiful! These were created with the new Awash with Flowers stamp set.

OK, do I have your attention? Here are all the details:

Attention Hostesses

Host a $350 workshop and receive the brand-new Two-Step Awash with Flowers stamp set FREE!
Item Description
117062 Awash with Flowers (wood-mount)
120549 Awash with Flowers (clear-mount)

Now to help you achieve that $350 goal, Stampin' Up is offering this great special.
Attention Customers

Two-Step into spring with a sneak peek from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog! Be the first to add the Awash with Flowers stamp set to your collection.

Item        Description                                            Price
117062  Awash with Flowers (wood-mount)    $39.95
120549  Awash with Flowers (clear-mount)  $27.95

Plus, purchase spring-themed Two-Step Stampin' sets at 20 percent off the retail price--no additional purchase necessary!

Qualifying stamp sets are listed below:
Item    Page   Description              Discount Price
113824   94    Greenhouse Garden    $20.76
113734  98    Fifth Avenue Floral  $19.96
111578  101   Flower Fancy           $29.56
113258  112   Trendy Trees            $14.36

Important Note: The Awash with Flowers stamp set is a sneak peek from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog and will not be available again until the release of the new Idea Book & Catalog.
You can download the special flyer for this month's special offers Here for all the details.
Contact me today to place your order, or better yet book a party and earn the new Flowers Awash stamp set for free.
Until Next Time.
Happy Stampin',
Tricia Butts

My Digital Studio Now Available

I am so excited to tell you about the launch of Stampin' Up's new digital software, My Digital Studio, that went live October 1st.  This software will allow you to create digital scrapbooks, digital cards, calendars as well as create movies and DVD's to create keepsakes for you and your loved ones.
The great thing about this software is that you are able to use Stampin' Up's wonderful colors to coordinate your digital projects with the inks, cardstock and Designer Series Paper as well as Stampin' Up's exclusive stampsets, embellishments etc.  Another great feature is that you have the ability to size images to suit your layout.
You can use this software to design your cards and scrapbook pages and print them out using your printer or have them professionally printed with Stampin' Up.  Create hybrid projects by printing your design on My Digital Studio and then adding extra layers and/or  embellishments using traditional papercrafting methods for that extra WOW! factor.
I love that I can use My Digital Studio to design how I create my cards or scrapbook pages to how I want them, and then be able to create them traditionally with paper.  This way I can play with it as much as I want until I get it just the way I want it without feeling like I am wasting my cardstock, DSP or embellishments.  Plus, I can save my finished digital card so that I have it on hand if I want to create it again later.
My Digital Studio works for both Mac and PC platforms, which is great news for all of us Mac lovers out there.  Stampin' Up will also be offering additional downloads for purchase so that you can add to your digital collection. 

 Watch this great Youtube Video about My Digital Studio:



Please contact me if you any questions or you would like to learn more about My Digital Studio.  You can place your order online through my Stampin' Up online store or contact me and I will be happy to help you.
I will be sharing my new My Digital Studio Projects on my blog to give you a sample of the wonderful projects you can create with this wonderful software.


Hope you have a great day.
Stamping Smiles,
Tricia Butts