Happy Mardi Gras! I'm celebrating by listening to The Neville Brothers and wishing for King Cake!
I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to The Big Easy to teach at Scrapfest. The cards will be the same three cards as next week's Stamper's Corner trip, but not the chair card. We're not doing pre-orders in Louisiana because we're coming from out-of-state. So the fourth card will be a simple card using the Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts Base Die w/Circle Label insert. All of the dies I use in class will be available for sale at the Scrapp'n Savvy booth.
A couple more classes to announce and then it's on to the spots. I will be teaching at the Collins Spring Retailer Training Event in Framingham, Massachussets April 20-21, 2013. In early May I will be teaching at Scrapbook 'n Such's NSD event in Wichita Falls, TX.
June will find me in Florida and Ohio - stay tuned for specifics on those trips. July is the Create & Connect Trade show (formerly CHA) in Las Vegas. November is a BIG teaching trip to the Carolinas - lots of stores on that trip, so stay tuned for specifics. You might want to join my mailing list (blue button, left sidebar) so you won't miss any news on classes. (I sent one newsletter in January and one in February, so this is a vast improvement over last year, but certainly not in-box-clogging quantities. Feel safe to subscribe, is what I'm saying.)
To support my Stampin' Up! exclusive dies you'll find me posting SU ideas, templates and videos here on my blog, plus teaching online for UStamp with Dawn & Friends. You might also want to follow the Sizzix+Stampin' Up! Pinterest board.
So let's get spotting!
The theme for today is definitely Love and Puns!
Gretchen has an adorable card on her blog featuring the Bigz Circle Platform w/Ribbons die. A video for this die is still on my to-do list, so I especially appreciate Gretchen's step-by-step picture tutorial for assembling it. It's an easy one, very generic, and you can always add bigger items on top of the circle to change out the look.
Owl be the one to say it . . . how adowlable are those stamps? (See what I punned there?)
Next, let's check in with Shelly Hickox and see her very clever pop-up February Tag for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013. Shelly used the Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts Base Die w/Circle Label insert, cut from a clear material, to animate her adorable stamped sewing machine. The sewing machine is stitching a row of hearts cut from the upcoming Heart & Flower Movers & Shapers set. (Shipping in June - Shelly received one early to use for CHA samples)
I find her tag sewing-credible! (See what I punned there?)
Kelly Booth! What can I say about mad talent and Copic skills that turn me YG17 Grass Green with envy?! Here she's combined the Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts Base Die with the Love insert and companion Love Sizzlits set for a perfect shadow. Then, with a brushstroke of pure genius, she added the Bigz Scalloped Circle pop-up die to the shelf area above the Pop 'n Cuts and gave herself two more tiers for pop-ups!
It brings me to tiers, it's so good! (See what I punned there?)
Speaking of clever combinations of dies, let's hop across the ocean to check in with Helen Cryer, who posted this beauty combining the Sizzix Pop 'n Cuts Base Die with the Label Insert and the word "Love" from the Love Sizzlits set. And then, most brilliantly, she added a Flagpole with a hidden folded foot and used the banners (bunting) to pull it up when the card opens! SO SMART! Definitely will be trying this.
Helen's card is cute as a bunting! (See what I punned there?)
Before we head back to the States, let's take a detour to South Africa and see what Anna-Karin has been posting. Wow! This amazing project combines the Accordion Album with the Bigz Frame & Label die (for perfect decorating) and is brimming with clever techniques. (Note: the Accordion Album is coming back in stock this week! And yes, we will have them for sale at Stamper's Corner and Scrapfest)
Accordion to me, this project is a winner! (See what I punned there?)
Through our mutual love of papercrafting I have become friends with so many amazing designers. One of my newest friends, but I already feel like I've known her for forever, is Fran Sabad. Fran is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Lexington, Kentucky who is posting masterpiece after masterpiece of Pop 'n Cuts creations on her blog. Here is just a taste of her work. She's combined the Stampin' Up! Exclusive Pop 'n Cuts Card Base with the Sizzix Flowers Pop 'n Cuts Insert for this super cute Happy Bee-day card!
Gotta give Fran a high-HIVE for this one! (See what I punned there?)
Let's scoot on up to Alaska and check out the clever adaptation of the Stampin Up Exclusive Card Base plus Dress Form Pop 'n Cuts Insert from Sue Erickson. Sue removed the top of the dress form and the table legs, and then, by fashioning a doily tablecloth, the base of the dress form looks like fancy table legs! How very, very clever!
Now that's what I call FUN-iture! (See what I punned there?)
Since I really want to be in the company of these fine designers, I'm going to spot my own post! From this very blog! (I know! Cheeky!) I posted my Queen of Hearts card, video tutorial and free template this weekend and in case you missed it, either scroll down one post or click the photo below to check it out!
Clicking through these blogs and soaking up some inspiration is a fun way to celebrate Mardi Gras!
Hey, Pocky A-Way! (Or Hey, Pop-up A-Way! for my fellow punsters!)
thanks for the inspiration - I am a BIG fan of yours.
Sandra ltb
Posted by: Sandra ltb | February 12, 2013 at 10:03 PM
Yea!! I cant wait to take your class again at Scrapfest!
Posted by: Darlene S | February 13, 2013 at 12:55 PM