Shaving Cream Again....

So after seeing my club samples - click here - one of my downline requested that I demonstrate the shaving cream technique at my quarterly meeting.  Since this is one of my favorite techniques - I was happy to do so.  Simple and fun technique - put a layer of foam shaving cream on a shallow pan - smooth it out with spatula - add a few drops of re-inkers - swirl with a skewer - lay carstock down on shaving cream and press gently so it makes full contact - lift and scrape of excess shaving cream - all that will be left is a beautiful design like those below.

The bottom sheet was the first one I tried, then laid another without doing anything and picked it up and got the lighter one on top - both are really pretty - just different.  These sheets are still sitting on my stamping desk, and maybe this weekend I'll try and make a card or two with them.  If I do I'll be sure to come back and post them.  ~Maureen

Cute Heart Flowrs

So on Saturday Sandy shared a demonstration with us on how to make 3 dimensional flowers using heart punches.  Here she is with her punched out hearts - she folds each in half, and using a circle in the center of her card to help with placement she tapes the hearts down -

Here is the sample where Sandy is doing the placement.  Depending on the size of the hearts and how close you place them together your flowers get completely different looks.

Here are some of the beautiful samples that Sandy made to show us how you can use these flowers.  This was a great demo Sandy - thanks so much for sharing with us!

See you soon!! ~Maureen

Fall Flower demo -

At our Downline Meeting I did a short demo on making a quick and easy fall type flower to add to projects. Try it and let me know what you think.

Step 1 - Punch a scallop and sponge edges with a darker color - Step 2- cut in toward center between each scallop to create petals - leave about a 1/2" circle in the middle of the scallop - Step 3 - turn the sponged side down on top of a spongy mat or mouse pad and use your bone folder to gently push in the back of each petal to cause it to curl a bit. (Your eyes aren't fooling you - I changed color of my flower during my demo to show the project at the different stages :) - Step 4 - you can see here how the back of the petals go in - this makes each petal look more realistic. Step 5 - turn flower back over with shaded side up - using bone folder press down in the center of flower a bit and add a brad, button, etc. - complete your project. Each lady got to make one of these 3x3" cards - so cute!!

Thanks for stopping by - stop back soon! ~Maureen

Downline Meeting Demo

Saturday was our monthly downline meeting for June and each month I try to demo something for the group that they can take back and hopefully use in their business. This month I demoed how to do this adorable punch art strawberry - it reminded me of summer and the annual strawberry festival we have in a city near here. I saw how to do this month's ago on a blog - but I don't remember which one. If it is yours, please let me know and I will be happy to share the link. I look at blogs all the time for ideas, and a lot of times the ideas stay in my brain - but the blogs don't :) Here are the tools you need to make it - the bird punch, I used the flower on an alphabet die but you could punch any medium sized flower; a little flower punch; the five petal flower punch; a regular 1/4" circle punch and the Scalloped Heart die - I think you can see how everything is layered in this picture - if not, email me and I'll try and explain. There is very little altering of any of the punches. Two of the petals are cut off of the five petal flower for the top of the strawberry, and you'll punch two of the leave from the bird punch and trim the stem off one set. I just popped it up on layers of coordinating cardstock and I LOVE IT!! The little bumps on the heart look just like the seeds on a strawberry. When I finish the card with it on - I'll be sure to post it. Hope you enjoyed - thanks for stopping by.

Blossom Punch Tip

So at my downline meeting last Saturday, I demonstrated this great tip from Dawn Olchefske on using the Blossom Petal Punch with the Build a Blossom stamp set. I thought how clever was this - so to save time and cardstock - she shows how to line up your stamps before you stamp it, so you can punch out more than one petal at a time.

Step 1 - lock your punch in place and put on your table upside down. Step 2 - place the stamps onto the punch placing them over where they will punch out, putting the decal side up.
Step 3 - place your acrylic block (I used block D) on top of the stamps and press down firmly.
Step 4 - flip the entire thing over and press down stamps to make sure they are secure on the block.
Step 5 - you can now stamp, punch out the petals and use on your card. What a super tip - thanks Dawn!!
To see a great tutorial (much better than what I just showed you) - check out Dawn's site at -

http://dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/2011/02/stampin-up-blossom-petals-punch-tip-woohoo.html

Ribbon Rose

I demonstrated this beautiful ribbon rose at our last CSL meeting - they showed us how to make it at Convention this year. It is simple and beautiful - what more could you ask for. You start with a cardstock square covered with sticky strip. Then I had about 14" of our pink taffeta ribbon. Stick the end down in the center of the sticky, and start twisting the ribbon and sticking it down in a circle as you go - When you're done you have this lovely ribbon rose. I just cut around the rose and got rid of the excess card stock. Tucked the end of the ribbon under and added a pearl to the middle. Soon this will be on a card :) Love it!