• Center Stage Stamping

grand opening

Last weekend was the Grand Opening of the new Stamp-n-Storage retail store!  It was quite a whirlwind, but a lot of fun.  We had a balloon arch, official ribbon cutting, a make & take, food and a LOT of people.  We are so excited for this new space!

 

   

I taught a Creative Class Friday and Saturday to help kick things off.  We had a lot of fun creating this 12×12 canvas home decor piece.

 

 

Thanks to the great gals who joined me for the classes!  Didn’t their projects turn out great!

Thanks for stopping by.  Join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

stamp review crew: country home

Welcome to another Stamp Review Crew blog hop!  Today, we are shining a spotlight on the fabulous set Country Home from the 2018 Holiday Catalog.  Rustic farmhouse style is very hot right now and this set is totally on trend! It is full of fantastic images and great sentiments.  Make sure you check out all of the stops in this blog hop – you wouldn’t want to miss all the awesome inspiration!

This set isn’t really my usual style.  I’ll admit I stared at it for quite awhile before diving in to create.  But, I am quite happy with the outcome!  I decided to bring back color on Crumb Cake card stock.  This time, I colored in the floral arrangement with Stampin’ Up!’s Watercolor Pencils.  I like the soft look, but I really LOVE the white colored pencil on the Crumb Cake card stock!

Hello:Contry Home - Center Stage Stamping

I stamped the pitcher in Night of Navy on Whisper White and Crumb Cake card stock.  I cut out the Whisper White one, sponged it with a little bit of Crumb Cake ink to “dirty” it up a bit and adhered it over the pitcher on the Crumb Cake panel.  I distressed the edges of the image panel to add to the rustic farmhouse feel of the card.   I punched out  a partial 1/2″ circle on either side of the card front to let the ribbon rest in.  I think the Harwood background stamp (on the card base) is a perfect compliment for this set.

That’s a wrap for me.  I am sending you on to the talented Lauren Alarid, or you can go back to the creative Mike Funke.  Either way, you are in for some fantastic projects!  Thanks for stopping by.  Join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

 

 

inky friends: 2018 holiday catalog showcase

Welcome to My Inky Friends 2018 Holiday catalog Showcase blog hop!  We are shining the spotlight on some of the great new stamp sets in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog.  If you are following the hop in order, you have come here from Cindy and her wonderful Winter Woods display.  Now, join me as I put the fantastic Wishing You Well set center stage.

I love a versatile set and this one really is great for any season.  So, let’s take a look at some of it’s many talents.

Wishing You Well, just a note - Center Stage Stamping

I love this wreath with the Wood Textures designer series paper!  Lemon lime twist and Berry Burst create a vibrant contrast to the wood.  A wonderful card just to let someone know you are thinking of them.  But, change out the greeting and this would work for a Christmas card as well.  See, versatile!

 

Since this is the HOLIDAY Catalog showcase, I naturally had to make a Christmas card.  I went with traditional green and red, but chose to work with bright and bold Lemon Lime Twist (I seriously can not get enough of this color!) and Poppy Parade.

Wishing You Well: Season's Greeting - Center Stage Stamping

I love how the bit of striped Poppy Parade paper peeking out from the main panel echoes the striped Poppy Parade ribbon!  The three little pearls were colored with my Poppy Parade Stampin’ Blends marker.  Voila – perfect coordination!  This would be an easy card to mass produce.  Simple, but with some fun little details to make it interesting.

 

That’s a wrap for me.  I will now send you over to Twila who is showcasing one of my favorite sets – Dashing Deer.  Thanks for stopping by!  Come back again and join me in putting a spotlight on creativity!

dashing deer

Let’s kick off the week with another Christmas card.  Now, I am totally NOT ready for winter: the snow, cold, short days, ice, cold, gray skies, cold, snow and did I mention the cold?  But, with the release of the NEW Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog – and so many great products waiting to be used – it is hard not to get a jump start on some great Holiday creating!  Today’s card is a wonderful Christmas greeting using the Dashing Deer stamp set, coordinating Detailed Deer thinlits and Joyous Noel designer series paper.

Dashing Deer - Center Stage Stamping

First off, I love the Joyous Noel designer series paper!  The touches of copper accents really dress it up.  I started with a strip of it on the left and added a thin strip of copper foil sheet on a Gray Granite card base.  I stamped the greeting on the right to create the background for the deer die cut.  I really love the pattern on this deer stamp.  I added a couple of the tiny flowers cut out of copper foil and layered with a pearl center, and a bow made from Braided Linen Trim.  I am loving these colors for Christmas cards.  Do you like to change up your Christmas color schemes or are you a traditional green and red person?

That’s a wrap for today. Join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

happy birthday to my hubby

We are one week away from Stamp-n-Storage’s annual warehouse sale and Grand Opening of our new retail space.  It is crunch time to get everything done.  It hasn’t left much time for stamping this week.  But I did have to pop on to say Happy Birthday to my amazing husband, Brett.

Hooray, let's celebrate you - Center Stage Stamping

He is hip deep in all of the details with moving SnS to the new location and the Grand Opening.  I will be taking him out for supper at Buffalo Wild Wings so he can enjoy his favorite Big jack Daddy burger.  Hopefully he will get some time to enjoy his day.  He constantly amazes me with his abilities to run this business and keep it growing.  I am super blessed to have him by my side.  Happy Birthday, Brett!  I love you so very much!

holiday catalog is here

It’s here!  The Stampin’ Up! 2018 Holiday Catalog is here and loaded with fabulous products and creative inspiration.  Let’s kick it off with a project that features a couple of great new products. Buffalo Check background stamp and Merry Christmas to All bundle.

Buffalo Check Christmas - Center Stage Stamping

Isn’t this just perfect for a woodsy Christmas?! The Buffalo Check is stamped in black on Real Red card stock and backed with the log design from the Wood Textures designer series paper stack.  Kind of has a lumberjack feel, doesn’t it.  Change out the Sentiment and it would be great a great guy card  “Merry” is cut out in Tranquil Tide with one of the Merry Christmas Thinlit dies. I really love die cut words, and this thinlit set has FOUR!  “Christmas” from the Merry Christmas to All stamp set is stamped in black on a strip of Very Vanilla card stock.  A bit of Linen Thread and a few gold metallic pearls add just the right finishing touch.  I’m ready to curl up with some hot cocoa, flannel and fuzzy socks.  Just kidding, I’m am NOT ready for that just yet.  I’ll keep the sun shine, shorts and flip flops for a bit longer, thank you.  (Seriously, I am NOT ready for winter…)

That’s a wrap for today.  Come back and join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

stamp review crew: waterfront

Welcome back to another Stamp Review Crew blog hop!  I’m so glad you have joined us as we put the Waterfront stamp set in the spotlight.  This set is a lot of fun to play with and creates wonderful watercolor style landscapes and more when you let your creativity cut loose.  I have to admit, I have had the set for several months, but this is the first time I have created anything with it.  I assure you, it won’t be the last!

Waterfront: Friends make the good times better - Center Stage Stamping

For this card, I stamped the mountains, lake and trees first in Whisper White craft ink on Crumb Cake card stock and let it completely dry.  Once dry, I stamped over the images with the colors Gray Granite, Pool Party and Tranquil Tide (with a little Early Espresso for the tree trunks).  Since the stamps are photopolymer, it made lining up the images a breeze.  I didn’t try to line them up perfectly.  The bits of white peeking out give some nice highlights. I layered the image panel on a piece of Tranquil Tide dots from the ’17-’19 In Colors Designer Series Paper stack.  The front of the card base was run through the NEW Corrugated Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Isn’t it just AMAZING!  I can tell it will be used A LOT!

I used Stampin’ Write markers to ink the sentiment stamp and layered it on a Pool Party circle cut from the Stitched Labels Framelits.  Then adhered it over a bit of Linen Thread wrapped around the image panel.

I had been watching an episode of Murder She Wrote when I came up with the idea for this next card.  I hand an image in my mind of a quaint painting hanging on a weathered cottage wall,  Here’s what I came up with:

Waterfront: thanks friend - Center Stage Stamping

I covered the card base with a piece of the Wood Textures designer series paper – seriously, my FAVE!  I stamped the scene on a piece of thick Whisper White card stock.  I hand drew the flowers with Stampin’ Write markers.  Then I framed the painting.  First I cut a pice of Basic Black card stock the same dimension as my “painting”.  Next, I cut diagonally corner to corner both directions.  Finally, I trimmed about 1/4″ off the outer most edge of each triangle.  Here is a picture to help you see what I did.

I could have just mounted the “painting” on a piece of Basic Black and called it good.  But this way, I get the mitered corners like a real frame.

Waterfront: thanks friend close up - Center Stage Stamping

It’s a really small detail and most probably won’t notice it, but I thought it was neat.

If you started this blog hop from the beginning, I am the final stop.  If you picked it up somewhere in the middle, make sure you go around and check out all the great inspiration with the Waterfront stamp set!  From here you can go back to Heidi or on to Debra

*The Stamp Review Crew is a group of International Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who want to show you how much you can do with ONE stamp set. Each edition the SR Crew will showcase a new featured stamp set. Each stop along the hop will show you a different idea, or ideas using that set!**

 

 

That’s a wrap for now.  I hope you will come back and join me in putting a spotlight on creativity!

 

 

inky friends: dc9

Time for a design challenge from My Inky Friends! For this challenge, we are featuring a square sketch, inspired by page 16 of the Annual Catalog.

I decided to use some new items from the Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalog which goes live tomorrow!  It is chock full of fantastic goodies for all of your holiday projects!  For this challenge, I used the Dashing Deer Bundle – stamp set and coordinating thinlits – and the Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Series Paper. Oh. My. Goodness.  It is sooooooo pretty!  The copper foil accents are stunning.

Dashing Deer Happiest Christmas

Colors are Sahara Sand, Gray Granite and Copper.  A close up look at a few details:

Dashing Deer Happiext Christmas close up - Center Stage Stamping

The vellum circle is cut out with one of the Stitched Shaped Framelits.  The sprig is from the Frosted Bouquet Framelits (part of the Frosted Floral Suite) cut out of Copper Foil.  For the Soft Suede strip I crumpled it up then separated the layers so it has a look of suede (difficult to see in the photo). I used the Bright Copper Shimmer Paint and the stylus end from the Take your Pick too. to put the copper details on the image at the bottom of the card.

Finished project is a 5″x5″ card.  I love the neutral tones on this.  What a fantastic Christmas greeting to send.

Head over to My Inky Friends blog and check out the other projects based on this sketch.  I hope you will join us and play along.  Create your project based on this sketch then upload a link to it on My Inky Friends blog to share it with us.  We love to see your projects!

That’s a wrap for today.  Join me again to put a spotlight on creativity!

thank you blooms

I can’t believe it is the end of August.  Boy, the summer just flew by.  And here we are going into Labor day weekend.  At least my youngest two will be home for the long weekend.  And on Saturday we are going to see……HAMILTON!!  I have been looking forward to this coming to Minneapolis for over a year.  And I was fortunate to be able to get tickets for the four of us to go!  Eeeeek!  (I’m just a little bit excited.) I am not throwin’ away my shot!

 

We were doing a photo shoot in my studio for the upcoming Stamp-n-Storage catalog a couple of weeks ago.  And I was told to “grab some stuff and look like I was working on a project”.  So, I pulled out some things and just started stamping.  When the photo shoot was done, I had to finish up the card.  This is the finished product:

Thank you blooms - Center Stage Stamping

The card base is embossed with the Subtle 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The striped layer is from the Twinkle Twinkle designer series paper pack. For the flower panel, I stamped the flowers from Perennial Birthday in Gray Granite.  Next I colored them with my Stampin’ Blends in Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green (the lighter shade). Then I grabbed my Light Pool Party Stampin’ Blend and colored the background.  Ta Da – I made my own DSP!!!!  I embossed the greeting in white on a piece of Gray Granite card stock and adhered it to the card.  So easy!  Have you tried coloring with Stampin’ Blends yet?  You really need to.  They are fabulous!

Hey, I just realized my manicure even coordinates with this card!

That’s a wrap for today.  Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon and join me in putting a spotlight on creativity!

kanga and little roo

Life has been really crazy over here lately.  In the past month we: moved our daughter and son-in-law into their first house; moved our other two children off to college, in opposite directions from our house; moved our business, Stamp-n-Storage, to it’s new location; and continued working on my craft studio remodel.  I have mostly moved back in, but there are still trim details to finish up.  I can’t wait to give you a full tour!  For now, how about a little teaser?

I just LOVE how the top of my Ikea Kallax came together. (thank you Hobby Lobby!)  It really makes me happy to look at.  Which is good, since I spend a lot of time in here!

At the beginning of August, before our youngest two moved, we all went to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie, Christopher Robin, together.  Talk about hitting you right in the feels!  Such a sweet movie.  I love Pooh Bear even more now.  I thought I would share today’s card in honor of a sweet mother and son duo from the Hundred Acre Wood – Kanga and Roo. (Ok, so in this case, Roo is a Koala, use your imagination)

Kanga Happy Birthday - Center Stage Stamping

Coloring this duo was so easy with my Stampin’ Blends and the Animal Expedition DSP. A delightful birthday greeting for any age!

That’s a wrap for today.  I’m heading back to work in my studio – creating and cleaning!  Plus I am working on a special project for a class I am teaching for the Grand Opening of Stamp-n-Storage’s first retail space!  Check out details on the class and other Grand Opening activities here.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon and join me in putting a spotlight on creativity!