NC SU Demos January Blog Hop - A Perfect Pair

Welcome to the January NC Stampin' Up! Demos Blog Hop. This month we are pairing items from the new Occasions or Sale-a-Bration Catalog with items from the Annual Catalog. I have to make a confession. Since my last post in November, I did very little stamping (only what I had to in order to finish off Christmas cards or presents). With all the hectic-ness of the holidays, it felt kind of good to take a break. But that's the nice thing about stamping. For the most part, I can fit it into my schedule. Since I'm a demonstrator, I had to kick back in to develop cards for my January club. I also had to make some cards for my Card Ministry at church.

So, where do you start after a month and a half break? Well, I spent some time checking out blogs and Pinterest for inspiration. Then, I just had to put ink to paper. This is one of the first cards I made after my break. It's very simple, but I think it's cute. Sorry about the picture quality. The color is a little off. The base is Whisper White. Other colors are Call Me Clover and Rich Razleberry.

The frog is from the Sale-a-Bration (SAB) set So Hoppy Together. You can get it free during SAB with a $50 purchase. The cake is from the Annual Catalog set Tabs for Everything and Happy Birthday is from the Annual Catalog Hostess set Hand Delivered. I used my Big Shot to cut the circles with the Stitched Shapes Framelits from the In Color 2018-20 6x6 Designer Series Paper (DSP).

I didn't use this card for stamp club, but I may use it, or a variation, for my church's Birthday Card Ministry. It feels good to be stamping again. I enjoyed my little hiatus and now that I'm refreshed I'm excited about stamping up a storm.

Thanks for stopping by this month's blog hop. And remember, if you ever find yourself with a stamping block, just start putting ink to paper. Before you know it, you'll be back into it. You can also sign up for a class with your demonstrator or check out Pinterest and blogs (like you're doing now). Those are all good ways to get ideas and keep the mojo flowing.

Head on over to Robbie Rubala's blog for some more great inspiration.

This month's blog hop participants:

Toni Campana -
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/tonimariscreations/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/10706/entry/january_nc_demos_blog_a
Jacalyn Claes -
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/jacalynclaes/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/2182113/entry/ncc_demos_january_2019_blog
Jo Anne Hewins -
https://luv2create.typepad.com/my_blog/2019/01/nc-demo-blog-hop-for-january-pairing-the-new-with-the-old.html
Tracie Evans Langley -
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/traciesallaboutstamping/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/86481/entry/nc_demos_january_2019_blog
Sue Root -
https://stampin-with-sue.blogspot.com/2019/01/nc-su-demos-january-blog-hop-perfect.html
Robbie Rubala -
https://creationsinpaper.com/stampin-up-scalloped-tag-topper-punch-idea/
Sue Stapp -
http://suestapp.com/2019/01/27/january-blog-hop-for-north-carolina-demonstrators
Cheryl Svendsen -
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/cascards/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/2078340/entry/january_nc_demos_blog_hop1
Anita Trippi -
https://www.stampinwithanita.com/2019/01/nc-demo-january-2019-blog-hop-perfect.html
Frances Wagner -
https://wagstamps.blogspot.com/2019/01/nc-demos-january-2019-blog-hop.html

Valentine Treat Bag

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Yesterday I posted the Valentine Eclipse card that we made in last month's club. Today I have another project from that club class. It's a treat bag made with the Gift Bag Punch Board.

I have to confess - this isn't my bag. There was a little mishap with my bag, so the band is mine but the bag shown is actually one that one of my club members made.

The sentiment is from Happy Birthday Gorgeous and the hearts are from Tabs For Everything, The DSP is retired, but since I found 5 packs of it in my stash, I decided to use it.

Love Eclipse Card

Here is my first attempt at an Eclipse card. I've been thinking about trying this technique for a while but when one of my club members asked about doing one, that was all it took for me to finally give it a try. We made this card last month in club.

Supplies:

Stamps: Sheltering Tree, Tabs For Everything (the heart), and Good Greetings (retired)

Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White

Big Shot: Large Letters Framelits

Edit 1/17/22: This card is a standard 4.25 x 5.5 card so the layers are as follows:

Base: 8.5 x 5.5 Whisper White folded in half

Real Red layer: 4 x 5.25

Whisper White layer: 3.75 x 5

Hope the dimensions help.

Sorry the sentiment is from a retired set. You could use the Be Mine or XOXO stamps from Bloomin' Love and they would look great there -- maybe even better.

This angled shot shows the letters a little better. They are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals, but I highly recommend using the Foam Adhesive Strips. For one thing, they are skinnier so they fit under the letters better. I had to cut up a lot of dimensionals. For another, they are a little thicker than the dimensionals, so you'll get a little more contrast showing.

Letters with openings, like the O, can be left empty or the center cut out can be put back in. If you put the center cut out back in, be sure to glue it down flat. I liked the extra pop of red on this card. If your image spans onto or over the center, I think it looks better with the center back in.

I hope you'll give this technique a try. They are kind of addictive. The whole time we were making this card, people kept coming up with words and names they wanted to use for Eclipse cards. 

If you are in the Garner/Southern Wake County/Raleigh, NC area and you'd like to join us to make 3 fun projects a month, a new stamp club will be starting in April. I also allow non-club members as space permits. Contact me for more info.