Outside The Box: July 2014

Thu 31

Gathered Blooms on Watercolor

Good Morning, today we have a pretty purple card. I used a favorite new stamp of ours Gathered Blooms G2021 which I stamped and embossed in gold over a watercolor background created with Peerless Watercolors. Once it was complete I tore around the image and added A Little Thanks 98575 in gold. I added the finished piece to a violet card base with some turquoise seem binding. The color scheme makes me Happy I hope it makes you Happy too!

Posted at 12:27 AM 07/31/2014 in Clean and Simple, Dies, Flowers, Stamps, Thank You, Words | Permalink | Comments (5)

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Wed 30

'Tis the Season...

'Tis almost the end of July ...but there's still time for another Christmas design today! Jean Okimoto here, with a collection of new holiday treats for you.

Memory Box Products

NEW Tiny Candy Canes 99024
NEW Swirled Lollipops 99022
NEW Gingerbread Decorations 99043
NEW Precious Gingerbread Men 99042
NEW Jolly Combo (there's a little holly stamp on the end)
NEW Candy Cane Stripes G1993
Granny Smith Cardstock
Holly Berry Cardstock
Key Lime Cardstock
Key Lime Distressed Dots
Dill Notecard
Granny Smith Envelope

Use a Memento Love Letter Marker to color the teeny bowties - and Memento Luxe Love Letter is just the right shade of red for the candy canes and the greeting. Don't you just love it when you find the perfect shade of red?

BIG THANKS to everyone who joined us for classes at the Tukwila and University Village Impress stores over the weekend. We worked hard, chatted and laughed a lot - but managed to finish a total of 14 cards in the two classes. Sunday's class even ended early!

Visit our Ideas Gallery for detailed directions for today's card - and a few others too.

Thanks for visiting...have a great evening.

Posted at 4:04 PM 07/30/2014 in Celebrations, Christmas, Dies, Embellishments, Jean Okimoto, Stamps, Techniques, Winter | Permalink | Comments (3)

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Wed 30

You had me at hello, again!

Hello again everyone! Do you remember that I said I would be back with some this week with another way to use "berry bird"? No, well you might want to check out this posting for the start of this bird extravaganza!

I have really been enjoying playing with stamping's latest trend- watercolors.Today, I experimented with what is being called no line watercolor. Check out this great video for a how to.

While I have every sort of watercolors from tube to the Peerless paper watercolors, my favorite set is the one I have had since I was a kid!

I think you can tell which is the well loved and much used set!! This is a pretty fool proof way to get that cool water color look to your stamping and makes for a great CAS card with the bird being the focus.

I hope some of you try this technique and let me know how you make out.

Posted at 12:00 AM 07/30/2014 in All-Occasion, Birds, Clean and Simple, Techniques, Watercolors | Permalink | Comments (9)

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Tue 29

Christmas Buttermilk Carton Placeholder

Hey, There!

I decided I wanted to make a simple treat box I could use for our placeholders at the Christmas dinner table, and the Memory Box Buttermilk Carton is a perfect solution.

The name will go on a strip of card beneath the ornament. (I apologize for the somewhat washed out photo - the picture doesn't do the tree dies' embossing justice.)

S U P P L I E S

Memory Box Dies (Advent Calendar, Buttermilk Carton, Frosted Pine Tree, Frosted Spruce Tree, Small Flock of Doves) and Stamp (Snow Flurry); Cardstock: Desert Storm (Neenah); Ink: Frost White Pigment (ColorBox); Accents: gems (My Mind's Eye); Ribbons: Martha Stewart, generic lace; Other: foam dimensional tape, Score Tape, mini-glue dots

I N S T R U C T I O N S

Die cut Buttermilk Carton and assemble.
Stamp and heat set each set of the carton.
Wrap lace around carton top and adhere with glue dots.
Tie ribbon into bow and adhere.
Die cut trees, birds, and date ornament.
Adhere with dimensional tape: trees, then birds.
Adhere gems.
Write name on tag and adhere to slanted part of carton (not shown here).
Adhere ornament with gem to center of ribbon.

Thanks for stopping and have a blessed day!

Deborah

Posted at 12:00 AM 07/29/2014 in Boxes, Celebrations, Christmas, Dies, Stamps, Trees | Permalink | Comments (6)

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Fri 25

Watercolor Butterfly Beauty!

Hello all,

I know everyone is focusing on the brand new release but one of our teachers here at The Stamp Addict in San Diego created this card for an upcoming class before the new dies came out and I just think it is too fantastic to not share!

Kristin used the Leafy Stems Stencil and the Lunette Butterfly Die. She will be teaching this card and four others that showcase Memory Box dies and stencils at our store on Saturday Aug. 2nd from 2-4:30PM So if you are planning on being in town and want to attend just call the store to reserve a seat!

I hope you enjoy the beauty of this card as much as I did!

Posted at 3:02 AM 07/25/2014 in All-Occasion, Butterflies, Coloring, Dies | Permalink | Comments (11)

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Thu 24

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It’s a rainy summer day here in Seattle – perfect Christmas card-making weather! Jean Okimoto here, with another holiday design for you.

Memory Box Products

99021 Snowflake Arch Die
98752 A Flock of Birds Die
98917 Traditional Ornament
98958 Ornament Hooks and Caps
98936 Curled Ribbons
B2013 Wonderful Time Combo (there’s a sweet little Christmas tree stamp attached to the side)
Thistle Cardstock
Juniper Notecard and Envelope

Juniper, Thistle, red, white and gold is my favorite holiday color combination. I use it often, and keep reaching for the same colors over and over again. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Here’s a diecutting tip I’d like to share…scrunch up a piece of waxed paper, then rub it briskly over the intricate dies before diecutting. It’ll help release most – if not all – of those teeny little pieces of cardstock that like to cling to the die. Try it…I think you’ll like it.

Visit our Ideas Gallery for detailed directions and more designs featuring our latest holiday collection.

Thanks for stopping by…be sure to scroll down for Marnie’s Christmas design too.

Posted at 3:22 PM 07/24/2014 in Birds, Celebrations, Christmas, Dies, Embellishments, Jean Okimoto, Stamps, Techniques, Winter | Permalink | Comments (10)

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Thu 24

Forest Pine in the Snow

Good Morning! Has everyone recovered a bit from the Blog Blitzing? To counteract the 90+ temps here, for a couple of days, I've created this snowy card. Wishful thinking and all. To make this, I inked my background with Distress Ink and then down went the Forest Pine G2016 with Archival Ink. Next I put white embossing paste throught the Mini Dot Stencil 88533. For the overlay piece, I stenciled the Flurry Frame 88579 with Distress Ink and cut out an oval from the center. Lastly came greeting stamp Wonderful Time CS2013B. Hope you like it and the warm fuzzy feeling you get from it isn't just from the Summer heat seeping in!

Have a Wonderful Day and Thank You for stopping by and sharing part of your Day with us!

Posted at 12:00 AM 07/24/2014 in Christmas, Frames, Landscapes, Stamps, Stencils, Winter, Words | Permalink | Comments (5)

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Wed 23

Is less more?

Hi everyone! I hope you aren't done with stamps after last week's stamping blog blitz. Me- I can't get enough of all the new stamps that Memory Box has to offer.

I love birds and have a million bird stamps, dies, stencils etc., but this absolutely adorable "berry bird" CS2009C just called to me and I had to have it. the ideas are swirling and you may be seeing him more then this time in my upcoming blog postings.

Today the question is- "is less is more?" I usually agree, but I am not so sure today. My first card (I just had to post the pic with the sun shadows on the card, it looked so cool!!) is abut layers with the cut out to highlight our sweet bird. But in this card it is all about one layer simplicity. the exact same stamping but just on one layer.

When I showed my DH, who is my best critic both cards and asked him which he liked best, he immediately said he would buy the one layer card if he saw it in a store, because of its simplicity. Me- I like the layered card best.

Soooo now it's your turn- "is less more?' Tell me which card you prefer, any special reason?

Stay tune for more "berry bird" cards.

Posted at 12:00 AM 07/23/2014 in All-Occasion, Birds, Clean and Simple, Coloring, Patterned Papers, Stamps | Permalink | Comments (23)

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Tue 22

Merry Christmas Poinsettias

Good morning, Stamp Lovers!

As you know, Memory Box has just released its 2014 Holiday Collection.

For my card today, I chose the Plush Poinsettia Corner die and the Merry Christmas stamp for my card - what do you think?

S U P P L I E S

All products by Memory Box unless otherwise stated. Cardstock: Soiree Shimmer Silver, Pistachio; Patterned Paper: Morocco Key Lime; Stamp: Merry Christmas; Die: Plush Poinsettia Corner; Ink: Distress Embossing (Ranger); Copic Marker: YG95; Embossing Powder: Superfine Silver Detail (Ranger); Gems: Mark Richards; Adhesives: Tombo Mono, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Score Tape: Tools: ScorePal, teflon bone folder, paper trimmer, Vagabond, Pick-Up Stick, heat tool

I N S T R U C T I O N S

After making a card base, adhere a 4" x 5.25" panel of patterned paper to the front.

Die cut the Plush Poinsettia Corner four times (two each of Silver and Pistachio). Adhere the Silver outline die cuts in the corners of your card and then adhere the Pistachio petal die cuts.