 Since all four of us work for or attend a University, it was Back-to-School week for the whole family this week. (Well, technically, my daughter was supposed to start last Thursday, but since she somehow managed to schedule all of her classes on Monday and Wednesday, she didn't have class until this week.) To celebrate my daughter's senior year, I made these fun goody bags for her and her roommates. She has a great group of friends who she is rooming with again this year. They met the first day of band camp her Freshman year. I know lots of people make life-long friends in college, but I also know it doesn't necessarily happen for everyone. I am so thankful she found this great group of buddies to spend these four years with.
Then, I used the new Check You Out stamp set (149462) to stamp the owl in Soft Suede ink and cut it with the Layered Circle dies (141705). I love this new stamp set! It has been on my wish list since the day the catalog was released and I am so glad I finally got it. It is great for making cards for students, teachers, or any of your favorite bookworms. I stamped the books in Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade, Gorgeous Grape, and Granny Apple Green. I cut them out with my scissors and stacked them up. I angled and overlapped the books just a little so I could adhere them to one another with a little liquid glue. Then I attached them to the owl circle. I used some *very* retired flower eyelets to reinforce the holes at the top and tied it together with ribbon from my stash. Hopefully the girls will enjoy receiving a package in the mail and it will be a great start to a great senior year!
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 Are you ready to get messy? Today's technique involves quite a bit of mess, but lots of fun and beautiful results! Supplies needed:
Years ago (10+), I bought a package of Plain Paper Copier Transparency Film on clearance. I've trucked it through at least 5 moves, including twice across country. I knew that some day - some day! - I could use it to make window cards. Since I still hadn't used 1 sheet out of the hundred in the package, I decided it was high time I used it for something. I browsed through some technique tutorials on SplitCoastStampers and came across this gem by Beatte. It's an oldie, but since Stampin' Up! has Shimmery Crystal Effects in there upcoming Holiday catalog, it seemed like perfect timing.
I stamped a number of different pieces to try out different color combinations. Cut a piece of light colored cardstock just a smidge bigger than your piece of window sheet and a piece of tissue paper that has about a half inch overhang on all sides.
After you've applied the Shimmery Crystal Effects, put a couple of drops from your re-inkers on different areas of the glue. I used two different colors and added one drop of each. Start with just a drop or two. If it's too dark, you can add more.
 When your image is dry, trim off the excess tissue paper and cut the image to the size you desire. I found that the white and silver embossing powders showed up the best. The black, gold, and copper tended to get lost in the background design unless you turned them to the light just right.
Supplies used:  Today I was working on creating Batik backgrounds. This technique, like so many other techniques, isn't hard, but it does take some time. For this card, I used Very Vanilla, Mango Melody, and Old Olive cardstocks. For the ink, I used Mango Melody, Old Olive, and Poppy Parade. I also used the Stitched Shapes and Wild Rose dies and the Brick and Mortar embossing plate. All of these supplies are from Stampin' Up! Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking while I was working on this and didn't take any process pictures to share with you. Hopefully, the description is enough to help you understand the technique. I started by cutting a dozen or more leaves from Very Vanilla cardstock. I used non-permanent glue on the back of these leaves and stuck down a single layer of leaves on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. If you look at my finished card, the leaves that are still vanilla were where I placed this first layer of cut-out leaves. Using sponge daubers, I added Mango Melody ink in very areas of the paper, sponging right over the leaves that were adhered to the piece of paper. However, I didn't cover the whole piece of cardstock with ink. Then I did the same with Poppy Parade ink, filling in the rest of the blank areas and overlapping the Mango Melody ink in some areas. It will be very tempting, but don't remove this first layer of leaves yet! You should still have plenty of leaves left over that you didn't attach in the first step. I added these leaves in a second layer over the first leaves. Now, your leaves from the second layer will overlap those from the first layer. Repeat the inking steps you did before, but this time, use Poppy Parade and Old Olive ink. When you are done, carefully remove the leaves to reveal the beautiful batik background.
 Kids and teachers are heading back to school, the days are getting shorter, soon the weather will turn cooler (at least for those of us in the north), and we are all facing the reality that summer will soon be coming to an end. But that means fall, and pumpkins, and hot cocoa, and Christmas are right around the corner! And in just a couple of weeks (Sep. 4), Stampin' Up! will release their holiday catalog. There is so much awesome in this catalog. The papers are beautiful and whimsical with splashes of shine. There are all the over-the-top accessories you will want to make beautiful holiday cards and gifts. And, there is a stamp set for every taste and style. You won't want to miss it!
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