If you've been reading my blogs this week, you know that I am booking workshops in July and August, but you might be asking yourself, "What is a Stampin' Up! Workshop?" Well let me tell you what it is:
It's a party. A crafting party, to be more specific. You decide on a date and we go over what craft you'd like to do (it's called a Make-and-Take). Then you invite a few friends over! I'll spend about 20 minutes explaining the products and tools we will be using for the rest of the evening, demonstrate the project, and then you and your friends get to spend the rest of the afternoon or evening crafting it up. It's really fun!
The new Stampin' Up! catalog came out earlier in June and it has some fantastic things in it. I, of course, want all the things. I picked out two really great stamp sets for new Make-and-Takes for July and August. I gotta say, they are pretty awesome. I have links to all the products I used in each of the projects today at the bottom of this post.
The first stamp set is called Watercolor Wings. It's a "make your own butterfly" kit!!! There are 15 stamps in this set and you can make three different sized butterflies in any color combination you can come up with. There are some really nice sentiments and a cute dot border.
If you are so inclined to simply purchase this stamp set right away because it is so awesome, I highly recommend you also purchase the size E clear block. Photopolymer stamps do NOT come with blocks, they are sold separately. Size E fits the largest butterfly stamp perfectly. You can purchase smaller clear blocks for the smaller stamps, but you certainly don't have to. I used the size E block to stamp the tiny antennae on a few of my butterflies and it worked perfectly well.
I just want to take a moment to point out that I totally smudged one of the cards when I was sticking it onto its card base. See it? Oh my God, it's ruined!!!
Nah, like I ALWAYS say, you can almost always fix it. I ran downstairs and got some twine to cover it up. Now you can't see it at all and the twine gives it dimension. Gorgeous! And then, of course, I had to make an envelope. Making envelopes is ridiculously fun for me.
At Stampin' Up!, we have a saying "CASE!!" CASE stands for "Copy and Share Everything" and I do it ALL the time. As long as we give proper credit, copying is the greatest way to learn. As a musician, I do it constantly when I learn to play other people's songs. Learning other people's techniques and styles is part of what makes me a better musician. I love to come up with my own designs for Make-and-Takes and for my friends, but I have to give credit where credit is due! This lovely butterfly card was designed by the people at Stampin' Up!. I just freaking loved it sooo much, and I know you love it too! It's super cute! I used a lot of words to say I didn't create this design. Well that's blogging for you. (I did "design" this envelope though, ha!)
This second stamp I purchased is beautiful. It is called Corner Garden. As you can see, I bought the wood-backed version of this stamp. I love photopolymer so much, but with large background stamps, I've found that the cushioned rubber and wood backing really make for an even ink distribution.
I bought this stamp specifically for watercoloring. What a great way to spend an afternoon! Drinking tea, eating sandwiches (cookies), and watercoloring with a few friends. For this project, I used one of the very lovely sentiments from the Watercolor Wings stamp set (hmmm, must be on a watercolor kick....I sense a theme happening). Obviously, by the picture, I didn't mount this on a card base. I just didn't properly plan ahead and have matching off-white cardstock to mount it on. It happens!
Just a quick tip- watercolor works so beautifully with Stampin' Up! Inks because, well, they are water based! Having said that, if you want to watercolor, you have to use an oil-based ink for the stamp so it won't run when you watercolor. I recommend Memento inks. You can purchase them through Stampin' Up!
Making a mess: my creative process
Thanks for letting me share my projects with you this week! Please consider hosting a workshop in July or August. As a party host, you get some great rewards when your party guests help you reach sales goals. But there is no pressure to buy anything- I am honestly doing this to have fun. You don't need a large group either, I prefer smaller groups of 3-5 (including you!), so please support me and have fun doing it.
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Products I used:
Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Stamp Set
Corner Garden Wood-Mount Background Stamp
Clear Block E
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
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