February Card Kit of the Month

The February Card Kit of the Month is now available! Here's a look at the two Sample Cards:

You can purchase the January Card Kit of the Month Online Today – for more details Click Here!

If you're a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, you can purchase the Card Kit File Pack – for more details Click Here!

TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP! PRODUCTS ONLINE 24/7 CLICK HERE!

Don't Forget!

• To order your 14 Days of Love (Bandit!) Class on the Go! Click Here for more details!
  
• To contact me about registering for the Syracuse, NY Regional Seminar!!
  
• To Sign Up for our Spring Stamping Retreat Weekend!! Click Here for more details!
• To place your qualifying orders to earn FREE Stamp Sets, it's Sale-A-Bration!! Click Here for more details!

Dear Dad Birthday

I helped Landon (ok… helped him a LOT) make this card for his Daddy for his Birthday last week. I've been just sitting on this "All in the Family" stamp set waiting for a chance to use it… the day has come! I've also been hanging onto this fabulous "To the Nines" DSP knowing that it would be great for a "Man Card" but not having the need for one until now. This wide Twill Tape has been another thing collecting dust… this card really put to use some things!

ALY'S HELPFUL HINTS:

• Invest in Watercolor Paper. It's worth every penny and will help you achieve the professional water colored look you're striving for! It does a lot of the work for you just with how the paper is formulated.
• When you're water coloring, be sure to leave some spots completely "white" with no ink on it. Also work in layers, allowing coats to dry in between and building on the darker shading areas slowly.
• Be sure to stamp your lined art in a waterproof ink like any of our "Basics" or StazOn. So for example when I wanted brown here, I used Basic Brown. If I had used Chocolate Chip or Soft Suede, it would have caused bleeding.
• Embossing Powder = A Crisp Look. Whenever you want your words to "pop" like happy birthday does here – whip out your Heat Tool and Embossing Powders! Especially when you want your words to be white on a darker shade of cardstock.

WHAT TO ORDER:

All in the Family Stamp Set (113488), Family Phrases Stamp Set (114960), Holiday Blitz Stamp Set (114982), In Color 12×12 Textured Cardstock Assortment (115538), Blush Blossom Classic Ink (102609), Always Artichoke Classic Ink (105219), More Mustard Classic Ink (103162), Bashful Blue Classic Ink (105209), Sage Shadow Classic Ink (102532), Soft Suede Classic Ink (115657), Basic Brown Classic Ink (104315), Watercolor Paper (105019), To the Nines Specialty Paper (114038), Twill Tape (105245), Essentials On Board Chipboard (112085), White Embossing Powder (109132), VersaMark Ink (102283), Aqua Painters (103954) and Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP! PRODUCTS ONLINE 24/7 CLICK HERE!

Don't Forget!

• To Sign Up for the FREE Class Night coming up on November 12th – Click Here!
• To Sign Up for the GRAND Christmas Card Class coming up on November 21st – Click Here!
• To schedule your Complementary Christmas Card Designing Appointment – Click Here!
• To place your qualifying order for a FREE Decor Element – Click Here!
• To Order your November Card Kit of the Month – Click Here!

Beer Birthday for Brad

Brad's Birthday was October 28th, so I set out to make him a special birthday card a couple of weeks ago! It's always challenging for me to create masculine cards, so I had to do some tinkering to come up with something. Here's what the end result was:

ALY'S HELPFUL HINTS:

• The "Day and Night" Specialty Paper has done it again! Yet another card created with this fabulous Halloween paper that's not a Halloween card – talk about versatility! I started with the white and black newsprint paper, and then used a brayer and combination of Dusty Durango and More Mustard Classic Inks to change the coloring of the white background.
• Crystal Effects gives the perfect extra accent to the foam on the top of the mug.
• The "Totally Tabs" stamp set lines up perfectly with the Round Tab Punch. But this particular image also worked great with the circle punch! The next time you're at a workshop or class with me, ask to see my "punch sampler" – it will help you discover all of the possibilities of punch/stamp set coordination!
• The Jumbo Grommets are easy peasy to set – just punch out a 1/2" Circle Punch, press the grommet through the hole, and bend back the prongs with a Bone Folder! So simple, such a great accent!
• The White Gel Pen… such a handy little tool! Used here to make the "O" POP!

WHAT TO ORDER:

Cheers to You Stamp Set (114944), Wonderful Favorites Stamp Set (115114), On Your Birthday Stamp Set (111664), Totally Tabs Stamp Set (113520), Night & Day Specialty Paper (116768), Basic Black Classic Ink (101179), Basic Black Cardstock (102851), Whisper White Cardstock (100730), Dusty Durango Classic Ink (115654), Dusty Durango Cardstock (115321), More Mustard Classic Ink (103162), More Mustard Cardstock (100946), Mini Library Clips (109857), Vintage Brads (109109), Basic Jumbo Grommets (114348), Basic Black 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (115615), Linen Thread (104199), 1/2" Circle Punch (104390), 1 3/4" Circle Punch (112004), Round Tab Punch (108340), 1 3/8" Circle Punch (104401), 1/16" Circle Handheld Punch (101227), Bone Folder (102300), Black Embossing Powder (109133), Heat Tool (100005), White Gel Pen (105021), VersaMark Pad (102283), Mat Pack (105826), Paper Piercing Tool (116631), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Crystal Effects (101055), Aqua Painter (103954)

TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP! PRODUCTS ONLINE 24/7 CLICK HERE!

Don't Forget!

• To Sign Up for the FREE Class Night coming up on November 12th – Click Here!
• To Sign Up for the GRAND Christmas Card Class coming up on November 21st – Click Here!
• To schedule your Complementary Christmas Card Designing Appointment – Click Here!
• To place your qualifying order for a FREE Decor Element – Click Here!
• To Order your November Card Kit of the Month – Click Here!

Fall Frolic Day #2

Welcome to Day #2 of the Fall Frolic Event! Today I’m going to share with you an adorable little pumpkin card.

Both pumpkins and the leaf image come from an oldie but a goodie, the "Autumn Harvest" Stamp Set. These images just scream for Aqua Painters, so I decided to try something new. Watercoloring on Colored Cardstock is what makes these pumpkins so smashing!

ALY’S HELPFUL HINTS:

• To spice up your pumpkins, just give an Aqua Painter/Classic Ink swipe where you want your shaded areas to be. With the colored cardstock underneath, watercoloring these pumpkins to perfection is very simple!
• Hemp Twine tied in a bow around the stem is what adds the perfect extra touch to pumpkin number one.
• For less rubbing stress, you’ll want to apply your RubOn before stamping the tone on tone background. Don’t worry, the ink will resist around the RubOn and you can still stamp wherever you desire — but if you apply the RubOn first, it’s going to be stubborn sticking over top of the Classic Ink.
• 6" x 3" Cards are the perfect size to hold money and checks! This particular card started with a 3" x 12" piece of cardstock before being folded in half – that way, you can tie your ribbon around the card without it’s fold getting in the way.
• This snazzy way of tying a ribbon was done by threading through the Slot Punch!

WHAT WAS USED:

Autumn Harvest Stamp Set (110372), Autumn Harvest RubOns (115731), Old Olive 12×12 Cardstock (106544), Pumpkin Pie Cardstock (105117), More Mustard Pumpkin Pie Cardstock (100946), Old Olive Classic Ink (102277), Really Rust Classic Ink (102549), Hemp Twine (100982), Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (109051), Horizontal Slot Punch (105089), Corner Rounder (109047), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430) and Aqua Painter (103954)

TO ORDER STAMPIN’ UP! PRODUCTS ONLINE 24/7 CLICK HERE!

Have you entered to win the first Blog Candy Giveaway Yet!? To enter to win the Silver Elastic Cord, you have until Monday! View the Fall Frolic Day #1 Post for Details!

WHAT’S NEW on www.alystamps.com today? Track My Progress! Since the website opened yesterday, we’ve still been making some additions and tweaks! Today you will see these wonderful enhancements!

• Signature for the bottom of each of my posts
• "Feedburner" Subscription — this subscription is below the Newsletter Subscription, and it is a subscription just to this blog so you know when it’s updated
• BRAND NEW Facebook Page just for this website — Click on the Facebook Icon under "Socialize" to Become a Fan!
• BRAND NEW Twitter Page just for this website – Click on the Twitter Icon under "Socialize" to Follow My Tweets!
• You can also help my promote my new website and share my creative posts by clicking the socializing buttons at the bottom of each post and sharing them on your own Facebook and Twitter pages!

More tomorrow!