Making a real recycled card...The Green Thing - Do you save and reuse rubberstamping/scrapbooking items?

Recycled Card - What do you think I recycled to make this card??!!

After reading this, The Green Thing, it made me think about what rubber stamping and/or scrapbooking items and scraps I save and reuse...I have to admit I hate to even throw away a piece of pretty paper that is big enough to punch a little circle out of -

Are there those of you who feel the same way?

At the end of this post, there is a recycling technique you can use in your cardmaking and scrapbooking - using those dryer sheets you know there be other uses for so don't throw them away just yet!

I have a little bucket I put mine into....

The Green Thing...

Last day to order from sale is Tuesday! My first photobook...

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month with Stampin' Up!

National Scrapbooking Month Promotion (May 1-31, 2011)

From May 1-31, get 30% off a variety of scrapbooking products, including select stamp sets, digital downloads, and My Digital Studio print products!

Just a reminder that it is only a couple more days that you can take advantage of this sale...

 

From May 1-31, get 30%off a variety of scrapbooking products,

including select:

•Stamp sets!

•Digital downloads!

•My Digital Studio print products

In addition, join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator during the month of May, and you'll get 30% off the Digital+ Starter Kit. The Digital+ Starter Kit contains over $320 worth of high-quality Stampin' Up! products, including the innovative digital designing software, My Digital Studio--and during this special promotion, you'll pay just $122.50!  Click here to see all the exciting products the Digital+ Starter Kit contains.

But that's not all! When you join the Stampin' Up! family, you can also purchase the Stampin' Memories Add-On - an additional $75 worth of scrapbooking products--for just $35.

With the Stampin' Memories Add-On, you'll get:

•A stamp set

•A package of card stock

•A package of Designer Series Paper

•A package of Quick Accents (self-adhesive die cuts)

•A Designer Printed 12" x 12" Album

The Stampin' Memories Add-On is usually priced at $50, but when you join the Stampin' Up! family during the National Scrapbooking Month Promotion, you'll get an additional 30%discount....I used this 30%when I joined!  And I swear if I wasn't a demonstrator already, I sure would want to take advantage of this great offer....I know I haven't regretted joining at all - in fact, it has been 2 years already!  Time sure flies when you're having fun!!  In July I will be going to the Stampin' Up annual convention in Salt Lake City (my first one!) and will get to tour the Stampin' Up factory and office. 

This week I have been working hard get my digital pictures and real photos from the past 18 years to organize them and use My Digital Studio

Blog candy winner!! Congrats!

Congratulations to the winner of my Sudsol blog tour blog candy, the beveled windowpane pin:

Marti Crapo!!

Please email me your address so I can mail it to you, OK?

Thanks to everyone of you who left comments!! 

Hope you enjoyed all the other projects!  I know I did :-)

Red glimmer paper masculine sailboat card with sewing on card

Here is a masculine card I made this week using Stampin Up's new Sail Away stamp and the Nautical Expedition designer series paper, early expresso cardstock, and white pigment/craft inkpad, as well as the red glimmer paper which will be carried over to the new catalog later this summer. 

I was glad to find that out, since I like the sparkliness of it (is that a word?)  I had used it on a masculine vintage airplane card for my son earlier this year and posted it.  So thought I would try it again, and use the new baker's twine to "sew" the sailboat's lines. 

Here is a closeup of the boat's "lines" - I punched the holes for the lines

What do you do with your swap cards? Embellish and recycle!

I have received so many beautiful swap cards - I hate to let them go or just have them sitting around and not being enjoyed.  So after I've taken a picture of them or scanned them to have them to CASE for future samples, I started embellishing them to fit the occasion.  Often I cut the front of the card off and adhere it to another piece of cardstock to layer it.  I've added ribbon, bows, glitter, other punches, pearls, rhinestones, brads, and the appropriate greeting and recycle it so others can enjoy them too, but with my "special" touch  :-)  

Do you do that too?

This is a card that I did this week - I loved the purple and old olive colors.  After cutting off the front, I trimmed down the piece, and adhered it to another piece of folded cardstock - this is a great way to use up any retired cardstock you might have!  See how I also used a border punch along the right side?  I also put a line of pearls to the left of the greeting and put little pearls in the centers of some of the flowers.

This clever card uses the two-step bird punch

Blog candy status; trifold flip card info for instructions

Hope you all had a great week and were able to join the Sudsol blog tour!  And many, many thanks to all your comments, feedback, and questions!!

I will be posting the results of the blog candy drawing this weekend - am enjoying reading all your emails!

 The card that was most requested for more info on was my trifold flip card, shown above. I checked around for a tutorial on it, since I knew I had seen one before.

It seems that this card goes by several different names: fancy fold, trifold, flip card, flipflop card, swing card, swing flipflop card....

Sudsol Blog Tour today! Welcome!!

Welcome to my blog and the May 2011 Sudsol blog tour!!

There are some awesomely skilled and creative designers in this blog tour. 

Hope you’re enjoying their posts and projects!

 My project is a set of masculine shabby chic nautical cards in reds and browns. I find that I don’t ever have enough masculine-type cards with interesting details, so I wanted to focus on that. The Stampin Up summer mini-catalog has some great nautical themed items and my projects use them.

Card #1: Expresso and crumb cake sailboat

Supplies: Crumb cake, early expresso, sahara sand & very vanilla cardstock; cherry cobbler & early expresso ink; rhinestone, square lattice embossing folder, ticket corner punch; dimensionals; Nautical Expedition DSP; Sail Away stamp set; The Open Sea stamp set.

Why am I a SUDSOL member?

Recently I had a question about ordering digital products and posted it on Sudsol, and within 2 hours, I had 6 responses from the very helpful Sudsol members! You can’t beat that for getting instant answers to your questions anywhere!!

I have been participating in the weekly design challenges, which have inspired me to improve my designing skills and trying new Stampin Up products…and several times I have won, which gave me another free week to my membership! This was very motivating, and I know I have become more creative and had fun doing it too.

And there is an endless supply of advice, help, sharing, and inspiration from other SU demonstrators - not to mention tons of projects, tips, patterns, and class/workshop plans. Here you don’t feel like you are just another person paying for a membership, rather you will “meet” and make new friends!

Sudsol is The Absolute Best site for Stampin Up demonstrators who want to take their designing and creativity to the next level(s)!!

Card #2: Trifold sepia technique ship

Supplies: Soft suede, chocolate chip, crumb cake & cherry cobbler cardstock; soft suede & chocolate chip ink; vintage brad; Nautical Expedition DSP; baker’s twine; blender pen; white pigment/craft inkpad; dimensionals; Sail Away stamp set; The Open Sea stamp set.

Why should you sign up for Sudsol?

I did the free 2-week trial and was so impressed with how valuable everything on the site was. I knew that I could never take it all in in just 2 weeks so I signed up – it is worth every penny and more. You will get a wealth of new ideas every single day and learn so much! The Creative Library has project pictures, patterns, and instructions – it is better than surfing the web with all the ideas that are available to you in Sudsol! All in one spot – a one-stop site for SU demonstrators…be prepared to lose track of time on this site!! I highly recommend that it is the next thing a new Stampin Up demonstrator do so she/he can learn the ropes real quick.

Click here to join me on SUDSOL - Your 24/7 Upline!

Card #3: Nautical Expedition DSP large sailboat cutout

Supplies: The Open Sea stamp set; Nautical Expedition DSP; chocolate chip cardstock; early expresso ink; bakers twine; vintage trinkets; dimensionals

Click here to link to my SUDSOL gallery and see what I've made, and many of them were a direct inspiration from Sudsol members!  

Sign up for my blog candy!

Email me (mklecuyer@hotmail.com) your name and email and tell me which one of my cards in the blog tour and/or my gallery were your favorite(s) to be put onto the list of entries for blog candy!  You might win my handmade Beveled Windowpane Pin that uses the upcoming stamp set, Four Frames, and designer series paper, Paisley Petals!!

Here are some pictures of the pin, and you can read more about it in my previous blog post. My mother loved her pin for her Mother’s Day gift!

I would love to read any comments you might have - please post them at the bottom of this post, OK?  Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog and visit the blog tour...

CONTINUE on the Blog Tour
Suzanne Taylor	Roxie Nitti

Last sneak peek - tomorrow is the Sudsol blog tour!

Tomorrow is THE DAY! 

Join me for the Sudsol blog tour and you will enjoy viewing projects by other Sudsol super creative members!

Here are some final sneak peeks of my masculine maritime

shabby chic cards!!

More baker's twine - a new item in Stampin Up's

summer mini-catalog.

An antique vintage brad....and

Nautical Expedition designer series paper.

Three mini-button brads from the vintage trinket set - and yes, that is more baker's twine you see!

I know you won't be disappointed to see all the

great blog tour projects.

I am looking forward to seeing them as well!

See you tomorrow!!

Sudsol blog tour - another sneak peek!

Here are some more sneak peeks of my projects for the Sudsol blog tour on May 17th! 

I am doing a masculine theme shabby chic maritime....

This is one of the stamps from The Open Sea stamp set that is in the summer mini-catalog from Stampin Up.

This stamp set that I am using is also new  - Sail Away.

This sneak peek shows the new baker's twine and some of the Nautical Expedition designer series paper.  If you place a Stampin Up order through me, you will pay the "preferred pricing," which is less $...

So are you getting a little bit curious, intrigued, and excited about the Sudsol blog tour yet?  Don't forget, you can try out Sudsol for two whole weeks free!!  Just click on my link at the bottom of the page that says Join Me!!

Only 2 more days until the Sudsol blog tour!! 

Sure hope you can join us!

Blog tour on May 17th - sneak peek!

This is one of the new designer series papers featured in the Stampin Up summer mini-catalog - Nautical Expedition. 

 I am using these papers on my projects for the upcoming Sudsol blog tour...

Here are some more snippets of this lovely paper - great for masculine themed projects, or anyone who likes the sea, ocean, sailing, boats, ships, etc.

This is the corner of one of the cards that is in my project card set - with cherry cobbler and early expresso colors. 

Can you see the brown and white bakers twine that is wrapped around the anchor?  That is another new item in the summer mini-catalog.

One of the stamp sets I used in my projects is The Open Sea - the clear set of 6 stamps is $18.95. 

Stop back for more sneak peeks, and make sure you mark May 17th to see my posting for the Sudsol blog tour....and get to see other great projects too!



Chandelier card - Grand Soiree

I love the shabby chic look and candeliers, and even though this stamp set (Grand Soiree) is retired, I was inspired to use it for a thank you card this week.  And the person I made it for has the "matching" room decor, so made it in colors to match her room - pink and brown.

I brayed soft suede ink

My friend/amiga's 24-7 summer online classes just started

Card and papercraft tutorials, sketch challenges, color challenges, scrapbook challenges, videos, project sharing, designers from all over the world!  And it's all 24/7 - from the convenience of your computer.  Summer Edition 2011 class just started so check it out and get in on the fun!!  All tutorials available in both English and Spanish...Did I mention how much fun Madeline and her design team are?!  I'm off to see what we're doing today....something different every day!

Happy Mother's Day - cards and flowers for all mothers

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are moms!  I had this holiday in mind when I designed and made up 3 flower cards for our rubber stamping group meeting next week.  I finally got the Fun Flowers diecut by Stampin Up

Beveled frame pins for Mother's Day

Another holiday will be this weekend - Mother's Day...And it is my mother's birthday too, so I usually plan to make 2 projects for her and 2 cards and mail them all at the same time.  I played with the beveled frames to make up 3 pins, which I learned at a local workshop.  The red beveled frame pin above is the one I choose to give her.

I used the new Stampin' Up designer series paper, Paisley Petals, and  Four Frames stamp set. 

Stampin Up's summer mini-catalog - a few highlights and 30% off sale!

Here is one of the new stamp sets that I just bought from Stampin Up's new summer mini-catalog, and here is some more info about that cool new triple layer punch - aren't they pretty?  I just got that too, so will be making up some projects with these new toys!

Since it is National Scrapbooking Month, Stampin Up has a special sale promotion for 30% off selected items:  

Sudsol blog tour on May 17th using summer mini-catalog items

BLOG TOUR  --  MAY 17 --   BLOG TOUR  --  LOTS OF PROJECTS  -- MAY 17 --  SUMMER MINI-CATALOG PROJECTS

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

I wanted to give you a heads up about the Sudsol blog tour that will be on May17th - I will be participating and showing 3 projects using items from the new Stampin Up summer mini-catalog. 

Sudsol has access to hundreds of project ideas and instructions in their Creative Library that members (who must be Stampin Up demonstrators) have access to!  On May 17th you will get to see lots of great projects prepared by Sudsol members....

Please mark May 17th to come and join the blog tour!   If you can't wait, you can sign up for a free 2-week trial with Sudsol by clicking the link at the bottom of my blog - That's what I did, and when I realized what an awesome deal it was, I signed up immediately.  There are projects, articles, fun challenges, super helpful demonstrators, and quick responses.  I haven't regretted it a bit!

If you want to become a Stampin' Up demonstrator so you too, can get all the wonderful benefits at Sudsol, I would be super excited to help you do that, OK?

Stampin Up's new summer mini-catalog is here! Help with breast cancer research

As promised, I am posting more about this weekend's sneaky peek - the new summer mini-catalog from Stampin Up is now available! You can view the whole mini-catalog by clicking on the picture of it on the left side of my blog. Here are some pics of the great new items that are in it!

If you look at the front of these punches, you will see the level that changes so you can get 3 images from just one punch - pretty cool, huh?

Here is some new pretty designer series paper that is also available in a digital download, as well as a summery stamp set of flipflops, popsicles, and tubing!

Another stamp set that is available is Strength & Hope - May 1-August 31, 2011:  As part of their Making a Difference program, Stampin' Up! is proud to partner with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in the Strength & Hope Campaign.