Clear Blocks: Another Use

Hey all,
    I'm going to tell you a story that will make you sure I should have at least one cup of coffee a day, for everyone's well being! Then I'll show you what I did with my clear blocks on a card for my two kids. And lastly, I'm going to teach you how to clean your clear blocks so they keep those rubber stamps on them. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

    I'm a server at a cute little mexican food restaurant here in Austin, Texas. As such, I get done with work pretty late most nights. I like to unwind for a couple hours before going to sleep (stamping time! woo hoo!). So, as you can imagine, I don't like getting up in the mornings. I've never been a morning person, but it seems to be getting worse as I get older.

   Anyway, just like over 50% of Americans, I find the solution is a hot cup of coffee. I was so tired this morning, I sat down with my coffee and forgot about it until it was less than hot. So, I got up and trudged into my little kitchen, opened and turned on my toaster oven, and yeah nearly put my cup of coffee in.

   My two kiddos, munching on strawberry poptarts, both laughed and called me a "goof nugget". I guess they are right on that one, I do get the Goof Nugget Award for the day. Ha ha!

 

I am coffee. Microwave me. Don't bake. Don't toast. :p

  

 Do you use Stampin' Up!s clear stamps and clear blocks? I LOVE  them! I don't know how I would store all my stamps if they were the larger wooden ones. Last year, I was in a time crunch for a congrats card and I decided to use my clear blocks as stamps themselves! 

   Last night, I decided to do it again. It's so fun and simple. My kids are leaving town to go to their grandma's house this week. They'll be gone for at least two weeks. Is my mother-in-law a saint, or what? I'm excited to have plenty of stamping time, time to work, and time for a few date nights with the hubby! But, I will miss my babies so much. So, I made them this card:

I had to play with the clear blocks for a bit before getting three rectangles that I really liked. Just experiment and have fun with it. I adore the Cute Clips, aren't they so fun? A package comes with conversation bubbles, hangers, and arrows. Very cute indeed.

Now, I've heard from a few frustrated stampers that have had trouble getting their clear stamps to stay on the blocks, and I've had that problem before! I know how annoying it is to be holding your block, positioning it above your paper, and PLOP! your stamp falls right off, in a terrible place, ruining your hard work. 

Here's what I found that works: 

Spray a bit on your blocks, and clean them off with a paper towel or washcloth. You can do the same with your stamps! Oil from our fingers and hands is the culprit, and makes those stamps not want to stay put. But just clean off those oils and it's like you have brand new blocks and stamps again!

Thanks for reading! Leave some love!

Your Dynamite SU Demo, TNT

Fab Friday 35

Hey ya'll! 

Guess what? It's another sketch challenge! This one is from Fab Friday. I picked this one because it uses a paper doily, which I have a bunch of, and don't use that often. They are so pretty, too. 

I used to live in Washington state, and had a group of ladies that I would meet with every Wednesday for coffee. I cherished those hot white chocolate mochas over laughter, stories, updates, and sometimes tears. I made this card with them, and all the pretty sunny days of two summers ago, in mind. 

Thanks for looking & happy stamping!

-T.N.T., your dynamite Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

CCMC263 Sketch Challenge

Hey stampers,

Today I set out searching for inspiration for a card and came across this sketch challenge from Create with Connie and Mary. I always love doing challenges, they really help you get a card started when you can't think of anything to do. Here's the challenge...

And here's the card I made this morning. My four-year-old daughter, Audrey, helped me decide on what stamp set to use. She adores horses, so Horse Frontier was perfect. 

I used watercolor paper and Stampin' Ink with my Aqua Painters to make the background, then I stamped the horse in Stazon' Jet Black (permanent- no smears) ink. Then I cut it up, placed it on a black mat, added some (of course) blue jean ribbon and a little hello on the side. Voila. I haven't entered very many challenges. How cool would it be if I won this one? Either way though, I love how this card turned out. I'm thinking of sending it to my cousin who's a cowgirl through and through. She's an excellent horse rider and roper, and she's starting eighth grade this year.

Well, there you have it folks. That's my sketch challenge entry. Hope you've enjoyed this post. Leave some love, and have a fabulous day.

Happy Stamping!

What is "C.A.S.E"?

Stampin' Up!'s tagline is:

 "Inspire. Create. Share." 

One of the things that I love about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that you can share your cards and projects with other fellow demos and friends. A lot of times, people will copy (C.) and (A.) share (S.) everything (E.), or "case". I fully support casing other people's work, I know that I love seeing that people pin my work onto their pinterest boards. It's an honor to know people like what I make and want to create it themselves.

Since I'm already on the subject of things I love about being a Stampin' Up! demo, let me share another plus. It's called Stampin' Connection. It's a website for demos only, all around the world, to upload photos of their projects and view other people's creations.

Today I was looking at people's cards and came across this one:

Isn't this card that Beth made just so striking and pretty? It's simple enough that I knew I could re-create it using products that I have handy, so once I fed the kids eggs and bacon and cleaned up the kitchen, I poured myself a second cup of coffee and sat down to stamp. The stamp set Beth used is called Secret Garden and is on the bottom of page 94 in the catalog, and the stamp set I used while casing her card is at the top of that same page, Flower Shop.

The Secret Garden stamp set is on my wishlist. The fact that Stampin' Up! offers matching framelit dies so I can cut them out in seconds is a huge plus. 

But, since I don't have those things yet, I went ahead and pulled out my Flower Shop set and coordinationg Posey Punch, and came up with this card.

     I didn't have white ribbon, so I used a strip of white cardstock and embossed it with the Polka Dot EF (embossing folder). I added a sentiment from the Easy Events stamp set, only inking up the "thank you" and not the rest of the stamp. Then I used a photopolymer stamp, the banner looking shape, from the Designer Type Stamp set to outline that "thank you". 

Well, that's all for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed seeing my cased card today. A big thanks to Beth for the inspiration. If you'd like to purchase any Stampin' Up! products just go to www.stampinup.net and click "store" and do all your shopping, then when it prompts you to name your demonstrator, just type in my name, Tori Tedder or Victoria Tedder. Either will work. Thanks for reading and... 

happy stamping!