Trendy Trees, card 1

Trendy Trees is such a cute and versatile stamp set, I absolutely love it. Over the next few days I will share the 5 cards planned for Wednesday's stamp camp.  If you haven't already enrolled, I would love to add you to the groups!

Here we see chocolate chip and kiwi kiss ink and paper with a beautiful ribbon.  This card first appeared on SplitCoast,  I believe. Anyway, I know it is a complete CASE and I thank the original artist, because it is a lovely card.

Have a wonderful Monday,

Dee Tollaksen

Sympathy Cards for sale!

This is a single layer card, also CAS (clean and simple) that completes my order for a local restaurant/caterer.  The stamp set is Pocket Silhouettes, one of my favorites, and the sentiment comes from Close as a Memory. The technique is Reverse Masking: I use a piece of watercolor paper, because it is so durable, and cut a window in the paper; then use a sponge to apply ink to the edges of the opening, surrounding the stamped image.  I find this to be a great technique for stampers who haven't completely jumped on the bandwagon: they want to buy some ink, stamps and paper but don't want to buy everything in the Idea Book & Catalog. 

Add a little ribbon to the card and it is very elegant and yet simple!

Have a great weekend! My DD is coming home today from a week-long trip to Florida with the church youth group, I'm looking forward to my household returning to the crazy pace of a high school senior!

Dee Tollaksen

Chefs Galore!!

Here he is, the chef and all his mates! So many men, so little time!  These are the cards for the commission I accepted. Well, these are the birthday cards. Tomorrow I'll show you the sympathy cards.  Such a thrill, to be asked to make cards! It isn't the first time, but it is the biggest order. And it is done. Yea!

Love it when I'm BUSY in the stamp room!

Dee Tollaksen

Voila

CAS -- clean and simple: I love this chef.  A local restaurant/caterer has requested some cards to include with party trays.  I thought this might work. He just makes me smile! What do you think?

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD 120

Good morning! So glad you have come to visit!  I am quite happy with my card for this week's DCBD challenge.  My circle scissor finally arrived, so now everything I do will be round!  This card has barely any stamping! The sentiment is from Trendy Trees, I inked up half the stamp and stamped, then using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, placed the rest of the sentiment underneath .  

But the FUN on this card is using the tools! So, circle cutter, stamp-a-ma-jig, and BigShot!  A sizzlet  die for the little leaves and an embosslet die for the flowers.  I'm happy with this card, and so glad for the challenge.  I must confess, I think I used the wrong grey shade, hope you can forgive me!  I'm not much for grey on my cards, so this is all I have! 

Join us on this challenge! Start at the DCBD blog and you can pop in to everyone else's blog and check out their inspiration offerings, then make your own!

Have a great week!

Dee Tollaksen

Brown Eyed Susan

Trying to come up with some all-occasion cards for a customer.   What do you think? This is simple, but not so fabulous. . . back to the drawing board.

Dee Tollaksen

Super Simple

I love a really clean, simple card. Especially for Sympathy cards. It just feels like there shouldn't be fancy ribbon or glitter or loads of layers of Designer Series paper.  This is my go-to layout for a sympathy card.  I stamp a flower, this one is from Pocket Silhouettes, then I use a mask to sponge the same color ink around the flower. Then, same color, stamp the sentiment.  I added a bit of cord to the spine, just for eye appeal.  Very easy and simple.  I will stamp a few of these in a variety of colors, and keep them on hand for short notice of someone needing a little reminder that we love them.

Dee Tollaksen

Just Beachy - fish friends

Again, a sneak peek into the new mini-catalog coming out soon!  These fishy friends are from the set: Just Beachy. This card is completely CASEd from Patti Chesky's blog. I love the color combo and the way each fish is showcased.  You can almost see that each colored panel was run through the BigShot with the polka dot texture plate, kinda looks like bubbles in the water???

This was my swap card for my stamping group's shoebox last night.  We had almost a dozen ladies make it. If you ever want to meet a talented bunch of stampers, just let me know and I'll be sure to invite you to the next swap!

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD 119

The Stampin' Up! mini catalog will be available April 1, and some of the sets are just too darn cute! Wagon Full of Fun offers this cute chick and the Easter eggs that I used here. This card also has lots of products and techniques, plus some beautiful twill ribbon from the Sell-a-Bration ribbon bundle! 

Hope this inspires you to try the challenge and upload your card to the DCBD page using the Mr Blinky tool. Be sure to check out all the Diva's blogs for more fabulous inspiration artwork! http://divacoffeebreakdesigns.blogspot.com/

 

Details: the Bashful Blue panel went through the BigShot using texture plate, so in person you can see sweet swirls and flowers on the main part of the card. The darling duck has sparkle on her wing and ribbon and I stamped the sentiment onto the ribbon using Stazon ink.  The eggs  were stamped on cardstock, touched up with markers then embossed with clear embossing powder to make them really shine.  Once I finally decided how to interpret the circle part of the challenge, I really had fun making this card!

Hope you are inspired!

Dee Tollaksen

Happy St. Patrick's Day

March 17, and nothing green. Sorry. Hope this darling duck will make up for my lack of Irish!

This is a sneak peek of the set Wagon Full of Fun. It is available to you as a sneak peek since it has an "Easter" theme but the new mini-catalog won't be available until April 1, which is very short notice for ordering, shipping, stamping and sending for Easter!  Therefore, feel free to leave a comment, email or call if you want a darling stamp set for spring or Easter!

This little basket is made from one sheet of card-stock, super easy. I made it over the weekend and couldn't guess who's blog posted the dimensions. . . but if you want it, just let me know and I can post the cutting instructions for you.

Thanks for visiting today!

Dee Tollaksen

And Many Mower. . .

We all know that making cards for guys is challenging. This is a sneak peek of the And Many Mower set from the mini catalog coming out April 1st.

This happy golfer  is nestled into some Parisian Breeze Designer Series Paper in chocolate chip and baja breeze card stock.  Simple, easy and good looking.

This card is totally CASEd from StampHunter68 over at SplitCoastStampers. If you're ever stumped for creative idea, remember to use your Idea Book & Catalog for sketch ideas and color combos, or surf on over to SplitCoast for 1000's more samples!

Hope your day is Par-fect!

Dee Tollaksen

Sign-up Now for the best deal ever!

Do you wonder "I wish I could get my stamping supplies at a discount"

or

"I wish I could quit my job and just stamp for a living"

Now is the time to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator to see those dreams become reality!

We currently have the opportunity to purchase the starter kit for just $169 (plus tax, FREE shipping) and to sweeten the deal, you can even split the cost over three months!  Stampin' Up! will ship you over $355 worth of products for your initial $56.34 payment so you can begin your business and earn the kit through sales! How awesome is that?

This deal is good only through the end of March, so don't hesitate!  You must contact me and I will do the paperwork, this payment plan is not available on-line.  Please leave a comment, email me or call!! Let me help you during this once in a lifetime offer period!

Payments Breakdown for the Sale-A-Bration Starter Kit Price (March 13-31, 2009)

Starter Kit Payment	Payment Charged*	Payment with Stampin' Memories Add-On*
Payment 1 (charged at time kit is entered)	$56.34 (+ sales tax)	$106.34 (+ sales tax)
Payment 2 (charged around April 15th)	$56.33	$56.33
Payment 3 (charged around May 15th)	$56.33	$56.33
Total Payment	$169.00	$219.00

Prayer Journal

Every week when we wrap-up our Bible Study, the leader offers to pray for any special situations. When we share these concerns, the group offers sympathy, condolences and all those appropriate responses. I thought this prayer journal might give us a tangible way to ask for prayer and keep a journal of requests and responses for the group.

It is made with the 5 x 5" chipboard Art Journal using the Pretties kit and Parisian Breeze DSP to decorate as well as le Jardin Botanique stamp set.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it went together with just a glue stick and the spiral punch.  I was inspired by Carrie Gaskin who recently posted her version in a similar color scheme: I totally CASEd her design, so lovely.

Have a great day!

Dee Tollaksen

Two hearts. . .

Designed specifically for a wedding shower, these pretty red hearts are punched from card stock, then I used some flower shaped eyelets from my stash. Popped the hearts up with dimensionals and taped the red twine to their backs, threaded through the eyelet and adhered it all to a gatefold of Shimmery White card stock.

Clean and simple! Now I'm off to the wedding shower, hope the bride really wanted those CorningWare casserole dishes.  I always try to get something that I know will last a long time and be really worthwhile.  I am still using my CorningWare, and they are going on 25 years, just like my marriage!

Have a great Saturday,

Dee Tollaksen

Vacation pix

Every day on vacation is a good day, and we had a wonderful time.

The sun shone, the clouds didn't stay long. The temps are in the 70's and 80's. The locals are very hospitable and the cocktails are never ending. 

 Yes, there is an ocean just at the edge of the beach, but I'm more 

of a pool person, so there aren't any 

pix of the big beach and ocean.  

Now that I have all my Stampin' Up! orders sorted and all my new supplies are out on the stamping table, I will be creating and 

organized so I will have some actual cards to show you soon! 

In the meantime, here is the Dreams resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I highly recommend it!

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD 118 BigShot challenge

Hello, I'm back, and yes, my vacation was wonderful.  I made these before I left, to use as thank-you notes while on our trip. We have been in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The hospitality staff really works hard to provide great service and help provide a wonderful vacation.  We used these to write a little note and leave gratuities for some of the staff that were especially helpful. 

I used the petal die on the BigShot to quickly punch these little presentation boxes and then just wrapped some Sell-a-Bration ribbon around, and dangle a pretty tag. I hope they enjoy the packaging as much as the gratuity!

Great to be home!  

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD 117: Sketch Challenge

Do you see the BigShot contribution on this card? I can't make a card anymore, without using something made with the BigShot!  Well, it isn't the embossed flowers from The Upsy Daisy stamp set. . . It isn't from the Candy Lane DSP.  And the beautiful ribbon certainly wasn't created on the BigShot. That leaves that silly bird, which was indeed die cut from a Sizzlet and popped up on a dimensional, with a teeny smidge of Chocolate Chip ink around the edges for definition.  This card pretty closely follows the sketch challenge. I hope you are thinking of how you can interpret the challenge. If you need more inspiration, and I hope you might, just click on the DCBD logo at right, and go on a blog hop to see all the Diva's cards!

I'll be back in a week with the next challenge, and maybe a picture or two from my vacation. Have a great week!

Dee Tollaksen

Pacific Point Pinafore

Having seen a card similar to this on Iliana Crouse's blog, I had to download the template and re-create it. I absolutely adore this card, sorry if that sounds boastful, but since I CASEd it totally, I actually adore Iliana's card!  The collar is punched with a circle punch and the scallops are made with the scallop circle punch, then the waistline is made with the regular scallop punch. Just adorable! And Pocket Silhouettes stamped in Pacific Point at the hem. Love It!!

Dee Tollaksen

March 1st, Easter Ideas

There won't be a mini-catalog release until April 1st, but we do have a sneak peek for you, if you want to think about making cards for Easter, or just for spring.  These two sets are available right now, just go to my Stampin' Up! website and click on Shop Now! to order either or both of these really cute sets.  I know I will be ordering today, hoping the stamps will be waiting for me when I get back from my little vacation! What am I saying? It is an awesome vacation!  Headed to Punta Cana int he Dominican Republic for 7 days and nights of sun and warmth.  Bye-bye Chicago!!