More Valentines for the troops!

More cards for the troops. These are for the wives. I hope they like them! I wonder if I'll get one in the mail.... : )

Valentines for the Troops

Here are some cards I made for my husband's team in Mosul, Iraq to send to their moms for Valentine's Day. Moms need cards from their sons just as much as the wives need a card from their hubby, right? : ) I hope they like the cards!

Here's my first card using Best Blossoms stamp set from the Sell A Bration mini catalog. I love this big flower and can see a lot of potential for using it on scrapbook layouts. Here, I stamped it with Whisper White craft ink on So Saffron cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I then cut out the flower leaving a bit of the saffron showing as I cut. The backgroud is stamped with Flannel BG stamp. Finally, I topped the flower off with a clear button and blue gingham ribbon. We made this card at my Every-Third-Friday-Night Stamp and Crop Night at my house. At this event each month, my friends come over to stamp, scrapbook, and work on their papercrafts projects. It's just a fun night of stamping and chatting!

All supplies for this card are from Stampin' Up. www.stampinup.com

It's Saturday again, and I'm using up some scraps! I have tons of unfinished swap cards, which are card fronts instead of full cards that I use for swapping ideas with other demonstrators. These two celery card fronts are leftovers and I turned them into Valentines using Stampin' Up stamps including Olive You, Loving Hearts, and Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel. I also used Certainly Celery, Regal Rose and Basic Black cardstock also from Stampin' Up! (http://www.stampinup.com/) I also used my Marvy Scalloped punch and Marvy oval punch! I love these scallop punches! I can't seem to concentrate with all of these unfinished projects lying around and it's really putting a cramp on my stamping style! My goal is to continue using them up and get back to stamping from scratch!

Tune in tomorrow when I tackle a scrapbooking layout that has plagued me creatively for a long time. It's a Zoo themed page and I just can't seem to figure out what to do with the pictures! See you tomorrow on Sunday's Scrapbook Page!

Manly Valentines

Here's a Valentine that a guy would not be embarrassed to receive. No frilly pink bows here! This card was inspired by SCS user Rohla. Check out her gallery at www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/rohla!

I used Stamp of Authenticity, Small Sayings, Sweet On You, and All About U stamp sets, plus the Rough Texture Wheel from www.stampinup.com. I also used More Mustard, Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip cardstock from Stampin' Up! as well as Stampin' Up! ribbon. The ribbon is actually black gingham ribbon which I ran over the Not Quite Navy ink pad with a sponge.

I made this card for a Winter Mini Swap last month. Thanks for looking!

A simple Card

I envy stampers and crafters who make the most beautiful yet simple designs. I tend to try to add so many elements and embellishments that never really work. So, on this card I really tried to keep it simple. I love this wide ribbon from Stampin' Up!. It really adds a lot of interest on the card. I then pulled out some chipboard pieces also from Stampin' Up!. I heat embossed both the chipboard flower and the chipboard circle with craft ink and Stampin' Up! embossing powder. The Thanks sentiment is from the retired Think Big stamp set from Stampin' Up!

All supplies from Stampin' Up! can be viewed in the online catalog at www.stampinup.com.

I have tons of the Designer Paper left over from the Stampin' Up Holiday Mini, and this is one of the cards I made for a swap with my club members. It is a simple pocket card. I used the Holiday Mini patterned paper, Bashful Blue cardstock and ink, True Thyme cardstock and ink as well as the True Thyme stitched ribbon. I love the stitched ribbon! The 'Just a Note' stamp is a Large Text-Only personalized stamp from Stampin' Up. I got that idea from my upline, Kim Cagle. I also used Snowflake Spot stamp set. All stamps and current materials can be found at http://www.stampinup.com/. (I'm learning how to insert links) : ) Basically, a pocket card is a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock cut in half vertically (hot dog cut) and folded in half. The fold of this card will be at the bottom. Then you simply fold about a 1 1/2" in flap down. I used double-sided tape to keep the flap down and the ribbon keeps the pocket folded pretty well. The card inside the pocket is just a piece of cardstock matted. Today is my last day of vacation, so I might stamp some more and post a few more samples for the week! I'm working on my club projects for the month and will post those in a bit! For more information about my club, see my Stampin' Up! website at http://www.stampinvera.stampinup.net/. Check out my calendar of events to for more info on clubs, crops, etc.

Happy New Year!

This morning, I pulled out a new stamp set. At least, it's new to me! This card is a criss cross/pocket card template that I found on splitcoast. I'm not a numbers person, so this was an easy card to recreate without complicated measurements, etc. We'll be making this card at my Stampin' Club this month!
On this card I used Stampin' Up!'s Dream Come True stamp set, pretty in pink ink and cardstock, basic black ink and cardstock, and whisper white cardstock. I wanted the black gingham ribbon to look like it was tied around the heart, so first I tried to glue dot a bow to the front of the heart, but I didn't like the result. So, instead, I used Stampin' Up!'s craft knife and cut slits on either side of the heart. Then I carefully pushed the ribbon through the slits and tied a knot. I put glue dots along the bottom of the card opening to keep the card from sliding through the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

Sunday's Scrapbook Page

My goal for '07 is to complete about one scrapbook layout a week. I've gotten behind and I'm hoping this goal will help! I just bought an 8 1/2 square Christmas scrapbook at Michael's and I've started a holiday album! Each page will be the family photo from each Christmas. Since my husband, Chris is in Iraq this year, the picture from Christmas '06 will just be of the kids. We'll get a new family photo when Chris comes home this Spring.

This album will be super simple, 30 minutes or less layouts. I get so wrapped up in details on my scrapbooks and I never complete the layouts and it seems that I'm never happy with the results. So this album is all about the photos, and not about embellishments or perfection! Thanks for looking!

DTP?

Hi everyone! I was in a hurry posting yesterday and I mentioned DTP in my post. It stands for direct to paper. That means, applying ink to your cardstock by putting the ink pad directly to the cardstock. Since I was embossing with my Big Shot, I wanted to put ink on the embossed image to bring out the design. I didn't want to sponge the ink on because I only wanted the ink to get on the raised image. So, I put my cardstock down on the table and rubbed the ink pad lightly over the image.

Later, when the kids are asleep I'll post a tutorial on the different effects of this tutorial complete with pictures!

Saturday's Scraps

Today, I woke up with the intention of stamping and using up some scraps. As soon as I sat down, the power went out! Arghhh! Well, I used natural light and the scraps on my table as well as some pieces that I had already run through my Big Shot and I came up with a few cards. This first card uses the Argyle pattern of Ellison's Big Impressions texture plates. I ran it through my Big Shot using the multipurpose platform and the Big Impressions starter kit. I then DTP'd some Bashful Blue ink over the embossed image to bring out the design a bit. I then used a scrap of Stampin' Up!'s DP plus the Happy Harmony Sell a Bration set.

I'm not quite as fond of this second card, although it does look better in person than it does on the screen. I used the Paisleys Texture plate by Ellison in my Big Shot. I DTP'd Bashful Blue ink on the embossing to bring it out a bit. Then I added a scrap of Stampin' Up!'s DP, a little gingham and velvet ribbon and my new stamp set, Polka Dots and Paisley! Stampin' Up! sent all of its demonstrators a Christmas gift and the gift was this new stamp set! Woo hoo!

Welcome to Southern Style Stamping!

Hi everyone! I have finally started a blog. I have wanted a website for some time now, but was afraid of starting one considering the fact that I posess absolutely no computer savvy whatsoever. So, a blog seemed to be a good fit!

Why blog? This blog will be a great place to post cards and scrapbook pages I've made. I love what I do and I love to share what I love. I am a Stampin' Up demonstrator and I teach rubber stamping, cardmaking and scrapbooking. So, tune in regularly to see what I come up with!

Now the pressure's on to create! See you in a few days and I promise to post a few pics for ya!