Saturday, November 30, 2013

Double duty snowman card

 I used this card design for two events, I had a really busy mid-November and decided to use this cheerful snowman for two swaps.  The ladies who attended my Holiday Shoebox Swap got to make this card, then my side-line demonstrators also got to make it, with an added element on the inside.

Unfortunately, with so many people handling the card, it looks like Mr Snow took a head dive into the Early Espresso ink pad right across his gut! Oh well, nobody's perfect!

The theme for the swap with my sidelines was "Interesting Insides." So I designed a dangling sentiment. The MERRY and snowflake were die cut on the Big Shot. Then I used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment to a length of twine. Can you see the teeny hole in the Whisper White panel? I threaded the twine through the panel and taped it securely in back and repeated on the panel on the opposite side. The panels are adhered to the card base with  just enough twine to cause tension and not quite enough to allow the card to open fully. So the card stands nicely and displays the sentiment prominently. It's pretty cool! Come on over and I'll teach you the trick.

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen


Friday, November 29, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Final Day


These two beauties are the final two from the Holiday Shoebox Swap. If I missed anyone, please let me know!

And today is my Mom's birthday, so Happy Birthday Rita!

This festive ornament card was brought by Marcella. The card is gorgeous, lots of lush ribbon, glimmer paper and rhinestones. I spent the day giggling at the ladies who think they are unable to tie bows. It really isn't that hard, it just takes practice and confidence!  Great fun layout!

Traci featured the Winter Frost DSP (designer series paper) and the hexagon punch for a pretty and unique Christmas card. The Sassy Salutations actually offers a few fun sayings that could transform this card into a birthday or all occasion card. Love the flexibility of the layout.

That's the end of the swaps, a very successful event!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap day 6

 Laura brought us this CAS (clean and simple) design. I've known Laura since I first became a demonstrator, she had joined Stampin' Up! just before me. She has a full-time job, so our opportunities to craft are limited. So, I am always thrilled when she joins us for the swap.

This pretty card has a very unique layout, but it is so pretty and I love the pop of red on the silver/blue card.  We laughed about the fact that the card is made without using the Big Shot! But then those circles on the red panel are dry embossed, so it isn't completely Big Shot free. LOL Great use of the rhinestones playing off of the white starbursts in the grey DSP.

Lois brought this gorgeous traditional Santa card. This swap was the first time Lois joined us, although she has been a demonstrator for a long time!  There are lots of Big Shot elements here! The silver glimmer paper and focal panel are cut using framelits and the Crumb Cake panel is dry embossed. I love the chevron ribbon, it ties in perfectly with the diaginal stripe DSP. I hope Lois will join us every time we swap!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap day 5

 Are you enjoying the color scheme Stampin' Up! is featuring this season? It's hard to find a traditional red & green card anywhere in sight!

These two beauties used the beautiful Winter Frost DSP (designer series paper) and the silver/grey/blue color combo. Julie shared this horizontal card with some rhinestones and silver 1/8" ribbon as highlights.

The vertical card was brought by Kathy. The layout is similar, but turned 90 degrees. Same DSP and same color scheme, but a totally different looking card.  I love the silver ornaments highlighted by pearl ornaments on the tree. It reminds me of the aluminum tree my grandparents had. The retro trees are so popular again!

These are both great cards to use for your Christmas cards, they would be a snap to reproduce in bulk!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen


Saturday, November 23, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap day 4


 Christmas cards run in two directions: beautiful but able to reproduce in quantity OR very special and lots of steps.  For a Shoebox Swap, they have to be 10 minute cards, a card that can be made without too much fuss or too many steps.

As you can see, even though the card can be reproduced, it can be gorgeous.

Jeanne designed this Cherry Cobbler and white card. It also follows the design rule of 3-2-1: The majority of the card is white, there is a secondary color of Cherry Cobbler and there is a minority color of green.  There is ribbon for texture, as well as embossing on the Big Shot, and a few pearls to add bling. Not to mention how pretty the card is!

The second card features the Ornament stamp set and matching framelits, available on our "secret" carry over list. These are fabulous, but they don't appear in any catalog, yet you are welcome to purchase them.

Also giving this card lots of character is DSP (designer series paper) from this years Holiday Catalog.  Jamie is a dedicated attendee, driving up from Coal City and bringing a customer or friend every year! So glad to have this pretty card and Jamie's cheerful attendance!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Friday, November 22, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap day 3

When I unpack all the gorgeous holiday cards, after the shoebox swap event, and after I have admired them all, there is the small task of matching the designer to the right card.  Some of the designers make it easy by putting a post-it on the back or actually stamping their personalized rubber stamp on the back. Then there are a few that I have coached on their design and helped with production, therefore I know which of them matches which card.

So most of the cards I am confident that I have matched correctly with the designer. But then there are a few that I have to wrack my brain to remember who I discussed a silver filigree & snowflake tree embossed on lavender paper. . . who the heck made this fab card? I think it is Debbie. I'm pretty sure it was her that handed me this great card featuring a non-traditional color combo with just the right amount of silver shine. But if I'm wrong, someone please correct me!

The next card is teensy bit more traditional, using a navy blue base but it bumps up the bling! I'm sure Carole brought this one. It is a stunning use of silver glimmer paper, the 1/8" silver ribbon, one fabulous embellishment but hold on to your hat, she used silver card stock for the base. That jumps the WOW factor up off the charts! And just the right amount of shimmer spritz brings the front of the card into the right balance of bling.

It is so fun to see these gorgeous cards from my stamping friends, because we sit together and make the cards that I have designed 99% of the time. When I invite them out of that comfort zone, they really shine!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen



Thursday, November 21, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap day 2



Roberta is one of my long-term stamper friends. I think she has attended every Shoebox Swap I have hosted! She brought us a beautiful bling card this year, featuring the poinsettia heat embossed using white and iridescent ice embossing powders, combined. The center panel is the new silver Foil Sheets and she anchored the foil with the beautiful silver 1/8" ribbon. Awesome bling design!

Our second card today comes from Barb, a first time attendee. Barb has been a customer for a while, but this is the first time she joined us. This traditional card is one of those "smile" cards, you can't help but smile along with the snowmen! We have a sparkly snowflake, a length of red grosgrain and some great embossed snowflakes. Great work bringing lots of interest to a traditional color scheme!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Holiday Shoebox Swap Cards Day 1

 We had a great time last week gathering to stamp and swap holiday cards. A couple times a year my stamping friends gather to share ideas and create masterpieces.

This year we also made a card to send to "From Our Hearts" to ship to deployed military for their use. Here we see Ursula coloring in her card which will then go in the box with all the snacks and treats we donated to "Military Mamas" to send CARE packages to the Troops.


The first card I'm sharing from the swap is from Adrienne. She inked the poinsettia embossing folder to create this gorgeous background. There is some nice sparkly detail on that flower from A Round Array that makes the card extra special!

The bottom card was brought by Ursula. So trendy, it features a flagged sentiment panel and an ornament punched in the DSP to reveal the red card stock beneath, this technique is Reverse Image.

It's great to have a group of ladies together to see how easy these trendy techniques are!

More cards to follow, I'll share a couple each day til they're all shown.

Happy Stamping!
Dee Tollaksen



Tuesday, November 19, 2013

On line sale starts Wednesday

Do you have a wish list? Are the Stampin' Up! markers on it? Don't miss the one day lead in to our holiday sale!

Wednesday only, the Marvelous Markers and the new Stampin' Trimmer are 30% savings, super duper awesome!

From Nov 20 thru Dec 2 there are many many items on sale from 20% to 50%. I can tell you,  I will be stocking up! Especially on those half price items! Wowsers!

You can jump to the shopping page by clicking here: dtollaksen.stampinup.net and click on SHOP.

Enjoy!
Dee

Friday, November 15, 2013

Shake it up Baby -- shaker card

Don't try to shake your computer, but if you had this cutie patootie card in your hand, you would definitely want to shake it.

At Stamp Club this month we decorated a panel of Whisper White card stock with a Christmas tree (or a birthday banner, if you don't need Christmas cards). Then we made a sandwich using some dimensional adhesive in the corners of the white panel then a sheet of acetate, then Washi tape on three sides of the sandwich.

Since silver glimmer paper is so awesome, it is impossible to throw away any scraps, so we made good use of them by punching tiny circles and scallop circles, threw in a few more circles from festive DSP (designer series papers) and then for good measure a spoonful of silver chunky glitter. Then Washi tape the fourth side of the sandwich.

Layer it onto a panel of Old Olive card stock and then onto a card base, add a terrific sentiment with one more bling rhinestone, and you have a terrific fun shaker card.

One more great use for washi tape and I guarantee this card will be well received and draw lots of attention when you send it off in the mail.

Happy Stamping!
Dee Tollaksen

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Festive Flurry Ornament kit

Add a little festive flare to your holiday decorating with our new Festive Flurry Ornament Kit! Top presents, embellish cards, create a wintery garland, or trim the tree. How you use them is up to you!
The kit includes everything you need (minus adhesive) to create 10 snowflakes, including
  • 10 feet of Soft Sky Ribbon
  • Printed cardstock - die cut and scored, ready to be assembled (Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Cardstock and Silver Glimmer Paper)
  • Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels (40)
Product name:Item #: Price: 
Festive Flurry Ornament Kit135813$14.95
These are only available while supplies last so don't wait! Take advantage of this offer-just in time to create 10 heirloom ornaments! Be sure to get your orders in early so you have plenty of time to make them for Christmas gifting!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Gold embossing makes everything gorgeous!

Stamp Club met recently and we had so much fun! This card had the members busy with heat embossing and Big Shot cutting!

First we used the En Francais background stamp and gold embossing powder to create the focal image. Then we used the leaf die to cut the center of the image and the small scallop punch for the other cut.

After we had all our elements, there was a sentiment stamped onto Baked Brown Sugar card stock, then everything was adhered to Cajun Craze card stock.

Some very Fall colors for our November Card Club creation!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Dress it up ladies!

Toss out that reliable old little black dress, this gorgeous red glimmer dress is the way to go!

The Dress Up framelits are so fun! I think this would be a gorgeous holiday invite if you're having your friends over for a wrapping party or just to enjoy a glass of champagne during the holidays.

Super easy, just some Big Shot techniques, one stamped image from Tags For You stamp set and a punch, and then glue, glue, glue!

Now that I have put my shoes back on and returned to reality, it is all about getting ready for the holidays!

If you need a consult to plan your holiday cards, party invites or a lesson on My Digital Studio (MDS), to create custom digital cards, just drop me a line, I would love to help!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen