InKollage

Heart Collage

Pinks, grays, a dash of lime and the sparkle of amethyst create a collagey Valentine here.  Or - after the 14th of February - it could be a birthday, Mother's Day, wedding or anniversary card too.

I love how Dave's designs work not just for holidays throughout the year, but for so many other occasions. The Quinn Flourish Die 98267 - with its heartlike "petals" could also be a pretty flower, or an artsy medallion.  The Heart Chain 98277 Border is also great for diecutting felt for an instant accent in red, fuchsia or pink. The  Chrysanthemum Frame G1857 pairs well with Vintage Notes E1329...like they were made for each other!

Here are some other ways to use the new Love and Kindness Collection Dies.  Cards from the Valentines by Design class at the Bellevue Square Impress (425 453.2748) on January 28th feature twelve dies, including some from previous releases and Poppystamps.  If you don't diecut - and wonder what all the fuss is about - join us, and you'll see why we all love them!

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Bold, Bright Heart

Here's a bold, bright Valentine for your special guy.  The great new Classic Heart G1856 stamp and matching Cupid Heart 98281 die make it a quick and easy card.  The Heart Chain Border 98277 diecuts and embosses the ten little hearts for a perfect accent.

The Classic Heart is one of three great new Valentine stamps in the Love and Kindness Collection - view the entire collection here.  Cupid Heart Die matches both the Classic Heart stamp, and the beautifully-detailed Serafina Heart 98278 die shown above.

 

We'll be playing with an array of the newest items - and some classic favorites too - in Saturday January 14th's LoveNotes class at the Belleuve Square Impress. You can chose to make 8 cards for the special people in your life - or a chipboard book to store and organize your designs (above).  It's an added class (not shown on the online schedule) from 11:30-2:30.  Please call Impress (425 453.2748) if you can join us.  

Then, on Sunday January 15th at the Tukwila Impress, it's Valentines by Design.  We'll make four collagey, artsy cards featuring a variety of techniques and little tricks to add texture and dimension to cards of distinction.  If you can join us - Tukwila's phone number is 206 901.9101.

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LOVE...Simply Stated

Pink, pink and more pink - Valentine's Day reminds me of what a special color it is. Memory Box pinks include Begonia, Taffy, Cherry Blossom, Cotton Candy, Bubblegum and Sugar Plum - perfect for your Valentine greetings, tags, banners and layouts.

This design features four dies...Index Card 98214 (there's also a matching Index Card G1781 stamp, not shown here), Double Ticket 98104 - and the brand new intricate LaRue Heart 98255 and outline Grand Heart 98254. The Grand Heart is gridded for accurate alignment - so it's perfect for diecutting the beautiful new Damask Heart G1855 stamp.  

Dave's new multi-tasking dies are great alone, with other dies and with specially-designed stamps.  The heart dies and Damask Heart stamp are from the just-released Love and Kindness Collection - you'll love everything in it!

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Sweet Treats

Cards sent, gifts under the tree, lights up, and cookies baked...right?  Now it's time to get the dies out and make little treat jars for the holidays.  Arrange them on your prettiest cake plate or cupcake tower as a centerpiece - or add guests' names to create placecards and party favors.  A set of them would also be a sweet surprise for a gift exchange.  Co-workers or carpoolers would love them too!

Here are just a few ideas - featuring Memory Box and Poppystamps Dies - with felt, cardstock and printed papers.  I had such a great time designing these - hope you like them!

The dies, left-to-right and top-to-bottom, are:

Poppystamps Tilda Swirl 804, Small Scalloped Circle 98204, Whimsy Circle 98154, Bianca Snowflake 98193, La Rue Flourish 98218, Tivoli Snowflake 98163, Classic Tags 98105, Amana Circle 98215, Poppystamps Small Tilda Swirl 808, Poppystamps Anna Snowflake 811, Simple Buckles 98185, Poppystamps Meadow Leaf 806, Blooming Rosette and Center 98121.  (I just used the rosette center - but rosettes are great jar toppers too!)

Memory Box Supplies in addition to the dies:

• Yuletide and Tinsel 6x6 Sets
• Grass Shimmer Cardstock
• Cranberry Gingham Cardstock
• Cranberry Distressed Dots Cardstock
• Key Lime Distressed Dots Cardstock
• Lagoon Cardstock
• To and From B1826

Other Supplies

• Clearsnap Top Boss Clear Embossing Stamp Pad
• ColorBox Peppermint Scentz Scented Embossing Powder
• Clearsnap Ruby Slippers, Peridot and Twinkling Turquoise Glitter
• Red, White and Baby Blue Felt
• Diecut Machine and Plates
• Sitcker Sheets
• Canning Jars
• 5/8",3/4" and 1-1/4" Circle Punches
• Screw Punch (for tags)
• Ribbons - Lemongrass 1/4", Turquoise 1/4" Featheredge, Red 1/4" Grosgrain, Red 1/3" Sheer, 1/2" wide strip of Baby Blue Felt
• May Arts Gold Cord
• Crafters Pick Ultimate Adhesive
• Candies and Yogurt-covered Pretzels

Basic Directions

• Cut, layer and attach diecuts with Crafters Pick Adhesive
• Attach adhesive paper (sticker or label sheets) to the felt before diecutting the Small Scalloped Circles and Simple Buckles
• Glittered circles - attach Scor-Tape to turquoise, chartreuse and red cardstock and press glitter onto the tape - then punch the circles using 5/8" or 3/4" punches
• Diecut two each of the Whimsy Circle and Tilda Swirl, then offset and layer them
• Attach the ribbons to the jar rims in two or three areas to keep them from slipping

Have fun with these jars - your guests will love them.  Merry Christmas!

Holiday Rosette

I love the Blooming Rosette and Center Die Set 98121 - and use it as often as I can!  Here's another example, using it with the sheet music print from the Yuletide papers.  The Christmas Carols 12x12 sheet was used here, but if it's not available, you can cut and attach two strips of the print from the 6x6 Yuletide Set.  

Hope you're just about ready for Christmas.  Our Design Team is already starting to think about Valentine's Day - and we can't wait to see the new products Dave's designed for 2012.  I'll be posting the schedule for new classes that Theresa Laurent, Design Editor at Memory Box, and I will be teaching soon. More ideas, techniques and great new products.

Be sure to visit the Poppystamps Blog too - for projects featuring more great stamps and dies.  Here's an example:

BIG thanks to everyone who took the BIG Winter Bliss class at the Tukwila Impress - hope it provided a lot of ideas for un-holiday cards you can use throughout the year.  Special thanks also,  to everyone who took my classes in 2012 - and to the team at Impress for your help in registering students, ordering the products and setting up the classroom!

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The Meaning of Christmas

Vintage Christmas Words G1797 is a versatile stamp for backgrounds - or, deconstructed, a collage-y tree.  The magnetic poetry version of your typical evergreen.  

Add some bright diecut accents of Retro Border 98170 and Perched Reedbird 98160 - in red flocked ribbon and Ruby Slippers Glitter - to create a unique card of holiday words and phrases.  It's about the time of the year when I start looking for different ways to use the great stamps, papers and dies from our holiday collection.  Hope you're enjoying  - and being inspired by -  the projects Dave and the entire Design Team have created for you. 

Here's another version of this basic design - details and directions are on the Clearsnap Blog:

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A Special Christmas Wish

It's great getting back to InKollage - and sharing more holiday ideas with you. Just getting over puppy Taffy's series of ER vet visits, hospital transfers, x-rays, IV's, ultrasounds - the whole bit.  She's now recovering and bouncing back to her spunky, lively ways!

The combination of Memory Box stamps, dies and papers provides so many options for holiday cards.  I love how the Crystalline Border 98179 and Pastry Labels 98107 Dies let us create custom accents. Distressed Jingle Bells G1827 and Graceful Deer E1772 are classic images - perfect for your collection of holiday stamps.

It's been such a fast year - December's just 4 days away.  Here are some cards from the Winter Bliss class at the Tukwila Impress (phone 206 901.9101) on December 10th.  We'll make 4 un-holiday cards perfect for birthdays, thank-yous and other occasions - including photowheel-style and stairstep cards.  Pretty colors, velvet ribbons and great techniques.

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First Christmas

Here's the easiest, quickest card I've ever made...thanks to Memory Box Dies and a family celebrating baby's first Christmas.  Big thanks to Dave for the great dies - and to Jenny, Art and Nicholas for the beautiful picture.

Dies featured here are Mini Scallop 98117, Twinkling Snowflakes 98162, Crystalline Border 98179 and Pop Up Joy 98192.

InKollage projects have reached a point of "needing" a diecut to look complete.  They add instant texture, dimension, sparkle or color (or all of the above!) to any design.  In addition to paper and cardstock, our dies work perfectly with felt, cardboard, craft foam, tulle and glitter paper.  See the Dies Collection here.

If tags, ribbons and festive packaging are part of your winter celebrations - you might enjoy this  class at the Tukwila Impress (phone 206 901.9101) on Sunday November 13th.   It's a new double-workshop class - Holiday Tags, Techniques and Treats.  Make a ringbound chipboard book of multi-colored Memory Box envelopes and fill each pocket with tags.  Next, add holiday bling to sweet little treat jars, packages and gift card enclosures.  A bunch of ideas - many can also be adapted later to create unique holiday cards!

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Wishes of the Season

 

I love combining simple shapes like the Perfect Gift Card Die 98177 with the elegant Fauntleroy Crest 98222 to add dimension to a card.   This would be a fun card to mass-produce because each pear could be stamped and chalked onto different sections of the Yuletide 6x6" background, creating a unique look each time.

For another idea -  here's a link to Dave's great painted pears video - featuring the same Solid and Shaded Pear stamps and Twinkling H20's.  See him stamping the Shaded Pear perfectly over the Solid Pear without a stamp positioner!                                                                     

We're updating and reconstructing our Memory Box Classes blog and will have our classes posted soon. Here's a link for the details on the classes that Lori Champine, Memory Box Design Editor Theresa Laurent and I have scheduled.  Lori is at Ink About It in Massachusetts and Theresa and I teach at the Impress stores in Tukwila, Bellevue Square and University Village.

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Wish Upon a Snowflake

Before we get started here at InKollage...be sure to visit Dave's blog and view his great Snowglobe video. Add your comments to his blog for a chance to win the expertly-engineered (that's Dave!) Snowglobe Dies with special clear, gridded windows for precise placement.  Winners will be randomly-selected from comments added to Dave's blog by 12:00 midnight Pacific time on October 23, 2011. 

OK - back to today's project - meet Colin Bear (D1831) and his matching die (98233) from the new Polar Bear Studio release,  on a rich red background from the Mistletoe 6x6 Set.  His scarf is stamped on red felt, from Impress, adding toasty-warm texture to this holiday card.  A quick Christmas Ticket (C1782) greeting diecut with Bistro Label (98120) and Diamond Jewel Stickers add the finishing touches.

Hope you like the design - view the Polar Bear Studio release here to see the great new stamps and dies.

Jean

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