Tutorial - Greeting Card

Hey stampers I just finished a tutorial on how to make those fun greeting card organizers like the one we made at Stamp Club this past weekend.
Basic Supplies:

Rubber Stamp Sets - Calligraphy Alphabet, Favorite Florals

Ink Pads - Que's colors, Pink, Moss Green, and Robins EggPattern cardstock - I used the K&Co Belle collection by Amy Butler

Scor-It tool or a ruler and bone folder

Bind-It-All binding machine and coils

Ribbons - I used the Belle collection and May Arts

Brads - Belle

Paper flower by Prima
Calendar template: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/images/tutorials/calendar_organizer_months.pdf
First you need to pick out 6 pieces of double-sised 12x12 pattern cardstock. I am working with the Belle collection from Amy Butler and K&Co. You can find this in our store in the K&Co section. I just, love, love this pattern paper and Amy Butler. I love Amy Butler patterns so much that I had a purse made from her fabric!

Then you will need 2 more pieces for the front and back covers. Cut these down to 7 3/4".
Score the covers in the middle which should be 6", but keep in mind that not all 12x12 paper is actually 12". This paper was a bit shorter than 12" so I just used my large Scor-it to center the paper and scored in half.
Now take your 6 pages and score each one at 4.25"

Turn it to the right once (a quater turn) and then score it at 6".The pages you will fold up the side you scored at 4.25" and then in half at 6" and it should look like this.

They should look like this. Aren't they pretty?
Now is a good time to punch the pages for the coil binding using our Bind-It-All machine from Zutter (we sell in the store in the Bind-It-All catagory). This is an awesome binding machine if you are in the market for one.

OK... so I don't really like to measure pages if I can get away with and I figured out a way for this project;

Place your page in the BIA machine and there is an arrow at the top of machine... line up the arrow with the top of the folded page, then punch. Do this for all the pages. Make sure that you place all the pages into the machine facing the same way or the punched holes will be off.
Here is a close up of that.

To punch the holes on the cover center a page on the cover... the cover is slightly larger than the pages. Then slip them both into the BIA and line up the arrow and the page just like you did with the other pages, and then slip the page out leaving the cover inside the maching then punch.Print out the calendar pages on white cardstock and cut out with your paper trimmer. You will also need a piece of white cardstock 4x2".

Now let's stamp! I was so happy when I found three colors of ink that matched my pattern cardstock pefectly in my Queue collection.

I also used one of new floral stamp sets - Favorite Florals.

We are going to be layering these stamps to create a wonderful background for the cover and all the pages. Let's start with the 4x2" peice for the cover first and start with the green. Then take another stamp and use the blue color and stamp over the 1st green stamping.

Use another image over that using the pink ink. I love how that looks!

Then stamp the word "cards" over that using Jet Black StazOn ink and the Calligraphy Alphabet stamp set.

Here are all the calendar pages after they have been stamped and glued to the pages.

Let's do something fun with the stamped piece for the cover... let's bead it! You will need clear micro beads, heavy duty double sided-tape, sometimes called red liner tape, and a non-stick craft sheet. Brayer and coated scissors are optional.

Lay your stamped piece on your non-stick craft sheet and line up the tape (I am using some that comes on a 2" wide roll) and stick it down.Pull the tape/stamped piece up from the non-stick craft sheet and trim.

I like to use a brayer to make sure the tape is stuck down very well
Peel off the tape liner and dunk the piece in the clear beads.

I also like to use a brayer to make sure the beads are stuck down as well. I then matted the beaded piece with black cardstock and embellished the front cover. I used the fabric covered brads from the Belle collection along with the paper flowers, and some self-adhesive rhinestones.Now let's bind the card organizer together. The coils come in long strips and you will need to cut off a 6 coil section using wire cutters.The coils do have a back side where they meet. To hide that you can have inside the book right behind the cover. To do that flip the back cover over the front cover before you place the coils in the book. The small ends of the coils go inside the holes first.

Place the book with the small coils facing the front and pull down the lever. I am using 1" coils so the machine is set at 1" at the front.

Looking good!

Here is the completed book.
Let's take a look inside!
Here are some details from the cover.

I hope you will try making one of these fun organizers for yourself. Wouldn't they make a great gift? How about for Mothers Day? You could even stamp up a few cards to get her start her out?

Retreat 2008 Scheduled!

It is official the dates for this years Stamping Retreat 2008 are September 19th - 22nd. This is our 5th year of hosting a retreat and we have so much fun!

This year we are doing this a little different and asking everyone to bring a "project box" to share with all the guests. Basically you will design an easy and fun project using your TSS stamps, and then bring all the supplies in a box for everyone to share. On Saturday we will set all the project boxes out on the tables and everyone will go around to each box and create the projects. You do not have to limit yourself to just cards... a key ring, or scrapbook page, booklet, frame or anything else you want to bring is fine. You will be asked to print out easy instructions for everyone and then pre-cut and score all the items. You can put them in little kits if you would like, which would be ideal. If you need help coming up with idea's I would be glad to help. Just keep in mind that simple is "good"!

The schedule is subject to change a bit, but basically we will have an Open House at the Studio Friday afternoon/evening with "Husband" making us finger foods (which means plan on a great dinner!) and we will have a make-n-take and other fun happenings.

Saturday we will all go over to the large banquet room at Elijah Clark State Park http://www.gastateparks.org/info/elijah/ and set up all of our project boxes on the tables and then "have at it" creating all the wonderful projects. "Husband" will bring us lunch so we can keep our energy up, and then we will pack up and head back to the Studio house that evening for our dinner and dress-up contest. This years theme is Las Vegas, so start thinking about what kind of costume you might like to wear. This could be Elvis, showgirl, or gangster from the old time Vegas or how about Cher or one of the Blue Man Group? The possibilities are endless with this theme. Then we set up a catwalk and have you strut your stuff to music. It is always a great time to let loose and have fun with a group of people who share your same interests. After that we will have our Unders Swap which is another highlight of the retreat.

Sunday we will set up tables at the Studio house and complete our project boxes... it takes awhile to complete 30 projects!

As usual we will have give-aways, and classes, and just a lot of fun. We will post more details to the website soon. The 2007 information is up there right now so please do not get confused. As soon has Husband gets back from India on the 6th I will have him update that information.

Here is accommodations information; http://thestampingstudio.com/bboard/viewtopic.php?p=8373#8373 And if you need any other information please email or give me a call. melissa@thestamingstudio.com (706) 359-6387

*** I know that some of you have been waiting to sign up for the retreat and registration has begun! You can pay right through the online store, just click on Store and then scroll down to the very last category which reads "Workshops and Classes" and then place the Retreat 2008 in your cart and pay through the shopping cart.

Missing Daddy

My little boy Sean broke my heart this evening. He came to me just before bed asking if he had to go to his classes field trip on May 7th. The field trip is to the Outback Steakhouse in Augusta, which is going to be so much fun getting a tour, and eating a meal... what could be better for an 8 year old? After much prompting he said that he wanted to stay home with his Daddy who gets back from India the day before. (Husband will be gone from home 2.5 weeks by then) He started to cry and it was really just the most heartbreaking pitiful thing to see. So in a desperate attempt to do anything to cheer the poor boy up I took his picture and told him he should email it to Daddy to let him know how he feels. Well, then I thought that is going to make Byron feel terrible as well and I really didn't want to do that, but Seany seemed to really like the idea so that is what we did. Here is Sean looking pitiful.His email to Daddy read "Hi, dad there is a picture of me crying because I really, really, really miss you.I hope you stay safe(because you are my dad, of course).Bye, love Sean."

Poor baby!

Swivel Mirrored, Monogramed, Purse Pull

Here is a fun little project that we made yesterday at Stamp Club. It is a purse/zipper pull that you can clip on just about anything including your purse, bible cover, sweatshirt, etc. It has a monogram on one side and a mirror on the other, for those time when you want to check your lipstick or if you have food stuck to the side of your face. :)

The base of the purse pulls are bottle caps. These are unused bottle caps, and we do sell them in the store. They first need to be smashed and I use to sandwich them between to small plastic cutting boards and hit them with a hammer, but now that I have a Cuttlebug machine it is much easier! I am sure you can use other emboss/die cut machines as well.

What I do is to place the bottle cap with the flutted side down on the white matt board and place the thicker clear board over and run it through the machine.

Easy Cheesy! Here it is nice and flat.

If you flip it over you will see that it still has a rubber seal in it... that will need to be removed so that we can glue things inside the cap easily. You can do that a couple different ways and you can find instructions on how to do that in my bottle cap bracelet class at the website; http://www.thestampingstudio.com/new/classes/bottlecapjewelryclass082206.htm

Then find some scrap pattern paper or cardstock and stamp your initial on it. I used some leftover packaging from a paper collection. The patterns were reduced which works great for this project! I am using our Calligraphy alphabet stamps and Jet Black StazOn ink.

Now take a 1" circle punch and flip it over so you can center the stamped image and punch it out.

Oh!.. I almost forget to make a hole to hang it from. It is better to do that now, rather than later. I just put mine on a plastic cutting board and used my paper piercer and a hammer to start the hole, and then wiggle the paper piercer through the hole to make it bigger. You can also use an awl instead of your paper piercer... but I usually know where my paper piercer is and can never find that darn awl.

To complete the rest of the purse pull you will need;

Glossy Medium/Crystal Lacquer or like product

1" round mirror (we sell those)

Large and medium jump rings

Swivel Clasp (we sell)

Place a blob of Glossy Medium inside the bottle cap...like about this much.
I then just use my finger to push the glue around and then place the mirror on top of that. It will take a few minutes for that to start to set a few hours for it to dry completely.Flip the cap over and place another blob of Glossy Medium/glue on it and spread it around with your finger.

Place your punched monogram on top of the glue then put more glue on top of that spread around with your finer. This will give it a nice glossy finish as well as make it water-resistant.

Take your large jump ring and twist it open and connect it to your swivel clasp.

Then you will connect the medium jump ring to the large jump ring.

Sometimes it is helpful to use a small jewelers pliers to connect the jump rings. The medium jump ring also gets connected to the bottlecap.

Add some ribbon for a fun touch, or how about a rhinestone? Make one using your school or company logo for fundraising projects.

There ya go!